


How many omegas can you fit into 5 seconds?

by Little_Marquise



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alpha Ashton Irwin, Alpha Michael, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Omega Calum Hood, Omega Luke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2019-08-02 12:20:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 113,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16305116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Marquise/pseuds/Little_Marquise
Summary: Luke has, as the only beta in a band, always felt a bit left out. While Michael and Ashton are fighting over who will win Calums heart, Luke feels like a piece of him is missing. The delayed piece of him finally catches up with his hectic lifestyle, when he presents as an omega during their Youngblood tour and  everything goes absolutely crazy. Muke and Cashton.





	1. London

**Author's Note:**

> \- A good fanfic always makes life more bearable. -

Dear readers,

please forgive me for any mistakes or inconsistencies in the band trivia you will find out. It is just a fanfic and I dont expect to get a Pulitzer for this one.

Please always comment abut what you like and dislike, or whatever you want to say to me.

Love you

LM

They were in England when it happened. Luke remembers waking up one day to yelling coming from the room next to his, which he recalled to be Michaels. He heard Ashtons and Michaels voices, angrily arguing about something, he didn’t understand much but he picked up Calums name a few times. He had zero idea about what they were arguing about but he wished they would keep it down because it was fucking 6 am and he didn’t need to be up until like 10 and he just couldn’t imagine something to be so important that it couldn’t wait 4 more hours. After a while the yelling stopped and he went to sleep again, before he could even start worrying about what was going on.

When he woke up for the second time it was to the sound of his alarm and he still refused to leave the bed for another 30 minutes. He almost fell asleep again when some loud knocking came up and before he could say anything, Ashton stormed into his room looking strangely disturbed and curtly announced that Luke needed to pack up immediately and be ready in an hour.  They were leaving to Edinburg tonight because there obviously has been a big change of plans. Before Luke could even say "what the fuck” Ashton slammed the door shut again and that was it. End of discussion apparently. Luke was pissed, confused and half convinced that it was some practical joke, that his band mates came up with to make fun of him. That once he would have managed to pack all his stuff they would laugh at him a say that they are still staying in London for another week and he wouldn’t see the end of it for a good month or longer. He was the youngest member of the band and the boys had a history of making fun of him in various ways. But then he remembered the yelling from the morning and for the first time it crossed his mind that something may be actually wrong.  So he quickly put on some clothes and went to Michaels room. Michael opened the door before Luke could even land the second knock, it looked like he had been waiting at the door to open them to… whoever, but apparently not Luke, because upon seeing the lead vocalist he stopped on his tracks abruptly and for a moment he looked really caught of guard, which was so unlike Michael that it baffled Luke even more.

“ What!?” the guitarist spat out finally.

Luke just stared at him for a moment. -Oh god, something really had to be wrong, if both Ashton and Michael looked this worked up.- He thought.

“ Ehmm..” he started. “ Ashton said we were leaving in an hour? What the hell does that mean? Was he serious or is that supposed to be some kind of …”

“Yeah.” Michael didn’t even let him finish. “We are leaving today, hurry up and pack up or we will leave you behind.”

Wow. That was rude and also What the hell??? “What the fuck man, what happened? We were supposed to stay for another week, I had plans. Damn, we had plans! We have interviews scheduled.”

“ It’s been dealt with, they cancelled them. The management will handle the rest.

“ But I..”

“ For the fucks sake, Luke. Just don’t be such a twat for once, and fucking listen, we need to leave! “ Michael actually yelled at him and Luke, completely taken aback, actually shuddered at that. Because first the rude words weren’t what  he was used to hear from his best friend, unless  it was in a teasing way, And second Michael clearly used his alpha voice on him and wow again, he only ever heard him use it  a few times and it always was in dire situations and never was it aimed at him. Michael just wasn’t that kind of alpha to enjoy going around flailing his status and bossing people around. And Luke  couldn’t help but cover under the verbal attack. He was still only a beta after all, even though with his family history it was very good chance he would become an alpha one day, and he would probably deny it later but back then he wasn’t the most dominant beta either.

 And that’s why he didn’t dare to ask more questions and even though he was still very pissed at his friends for ordering him around and not explaining a thing , he went back to his room, packed his stuff and was ready to leave 30 minutes later, grumpily waiting in a hotel hall for his bandmates to show up and maybe finally explain to him what the hell was going on. It didn’t happen though, instead a crew member came and told him that his bandmates were on the bus already and he has to hurry and join them. Luke thought that the morning couldn’t get worse, he was so fed up with people telling him to hurry up because he didn’t even have a breakfast and he was already stressed and it just occurred to him that he wouldn’t get a chance to meet the pretty readhead which he promised to call after all and he didn’t even know why.  The first thing he did when he got on the bus was trying to find his bandmates but Michael conveniently closed himself of in his bunk and clearly didn’t want to be disturbed, Calum was nowhere to be found and Ashton was hanging around in the living room area, but he had his headphones on and judging by his facial expression he didn’t want to be disturbed either. The crew kept to themselves too and when he asked them what was the matter, they told him to ask the boys and disappeared.. well at least as far as one can disappear in a moving piece of metal.

Luke finally settled on disturbing Ashton after all. He had his “don’t talk to me” face on, but Lukes mood wasn’t so pleasant either and enough was enough!

“ Ashton?”

Nothing.

“ASHTON!!!”

Ashton turned to him and pulled away the headphones just a little bit showing the tiniest bit of interest in Luke.

“ What the hell is going on, Ash? Why is everyone acting like .. I don’t even know how to explain it, just crazy crazy.  And where the hell is Calum? “

Ashton sighed and his frown deepened. “ Calum went ahead, took a plane.“ he said as if it explained everything.

It didn’t. Why would their bassist went ahead? Was he hurt? Luke started to get seriously worried.

“ Did something happen to him, did something happen to Mali? “ it just occurred to him, that Calum went ahead to Edinburgh where his sister lived. Maybe something   happened to her.

Ashton shook his head. “No, she’s ... they are both fine. Except..” ashton gulped apparently avoiding the hot topic.

“ Except what?!”

“ Cal went into heat last night.” He said dryly. He sounded kind of sad when he let the words out. It took a moment for the words to really settle, Luke still didn’t understand what was so sad about it though.

“ So he is an alpha now?” he asked tentatively because something felt off.

“ For fuck sake, Luke. Are you serious now? “ Michael appeared in the doorway, Luke jerked because he didn’t even notice him coming in. neither did Ash apparently because he visibly tensed and Luke saw his face turn into even more grumpy mask, which honestly made him look really scary.

Luke kept looking from one to the other, utterly dumbfounded for a moment, before it hit him and he immediately felt like total idiot. Of course he knew alphas didn’t go into heats, it just… it just never occurred to him that Cal would be an omega, so he didn’t connected the dots.  
“ So… Cal is an omega.” He tried again.

“Alphas don’t go into heats, Luke.”  

“ Maybe we should have let him finished the high school.” Mike sneered.

Luke blushed vividly. “Hey, I knew that, just ..”

“Maybe we should have let YOU finished it. Maybe they would have taught you to have some self-control.” And ok the fact that they were alphas didn’t mean they couldn’t let him finish a sentence once in a while and .. WAIT WHAT!?! What Ashton just said?

“You see, Luke, Mr. Big Bad Alpha DirtyClifford  here hasn’t thought of anything better than kindly force himself onto  poor Caum, when he went into heat. “

“ Hey.. “ Michael visibly paled. “ You make it sound like I raped him or something!”

“ And WHAT else did you think it was?!!!”

“ He wanted that, you know he did.”

Bang. Ashton just slammed his headpohones to the floor and stood up glaring at his bandmate. Luke just stood there with him mouth open, still processing the fact that their bassist was suddenly omega and second he apparently managed to get fucked by their guitarist already.

“It wasn’t right and you know it! “ Ashton shouted seemingly using every ounce of self-control to not attack said guitarist. Luke suddenly realized that he was standing right between the fighting alphas and that he should maybe move himself aside

“ Did he… ehmm, did they… you really did that?” he asked, aiming the question to nobody in particular.

Michael opened his mouth but apparently changed his mind and closed it again, hanging his head slightly in a hint of remorse. He looked almost sheepish.

“ Yes they did. “ Ashton turned to him still frowning but looking less ready to break Michaels nose than before.

“ Wow. I didn’t see that coming. Calum as omega, just wow. Wait, are they mated now or something?”

Ashton picked up his headphones from the floor. “I am going to sleep.” He said, not giving either of them second glance he left them standing awkwardly in the backroom. Michael immediately looked more uncomfortable, as if he didn’t know how to talk to Luke now.

“ Michael? “

“ I didn’t…we didn’t mated. It only happens when the two .. you know knot and stuff. Jeez, you should already know this stuff, Luke, you will be an alpha. Read something about it. “

Luke blushed. He never realized how ignorant he was, it just seemed so far away when he hadn’t even presented yet, well, maybe he never will and stay a beta. He had always wanted to be an alpha, but the alpha stuff seemed more complicated than he imagined and suddenly not so appealing anymore. 

“ He’ll be fine. “ Michael spoke again, and it sounded like a question. “He just.. we thought, that he would be better with his family now, you know with Mali, so…”

“ Right. “

“ So… but he is ok. “ Michael said with more confidence now.

Luke had so many questions but for once he decided that maybe he should shut up and keep them for later.

“ I’ll go to bed too.” Michael smiled at him and it seemed kind of forced but it weirdly warmed Luke at heart  that even in this situation Mikey watched out for him.

“ Sleep well, Mikey.”

“ Try to get some sleep too. “ Michael said. “ And don’t worry too much. Everything will work out. “

With that he left and when the glass door slid closed again; Luke sat down on the sofa and hugged his legs closer to his chest. Even after all those years, he remembers feeling strangely alone during that ride. He was thinking a lot, than googling a lot, than thinking again about what he found out about alpha omega stuff. Than feeling even more lonely, because he realized that all his bandmates were presented now, they matured and started dealing with the mature stuff. Just yesterday Calum was his fellow unpresented beta, his partner in crime, his fellow party rider. Today Calum was the precious omega his bandmates would probably start fighting over now. But where did that left him? The big cold empty feeling in his stomach kept telling him that maybe today was just the beginning of what his life would be now. Will his bandmates just ignore him all the time? But then he remembered Mikeys words “ everything will work out” and he decided to believe him for once.


	2. Edinburgh I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke sneaks out to visit Calum and thats pretty much it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like this chapter, even if its not the most exciting one.  
> Next time finally the all of them will be back together doing some shows and interviews while trying to get used to Calum as omega. Look forward to Ash and Michael trying to woo Calum, Calum being totally unimpressed and him and Luke plotting against the overprotective alphas.

When they finally made it to the Scottish Capital, it was already dark outside and heavily raining. The constant rain made the outskirts of the city look like a mess of blurry wet lights. Luke was sitting by the window with his forehead pressed against the cool glass and was aimlessly chasing the glittering dots of street lamps as they were flashing by. They hadn’t even put up in Edinburgh yet and he missed London already but he didn’t know how much of it was actually missing the city itself and how much was the fear of what was to happen in Edinburg. Ashton had come in 2 hours ago, but stayed only for a little while. He apologized to Luke for acting like he did but wasn’t in a very talkative mood otherwise and soon returned back to the sleeping area. Luke wondered, if he and Michael had talked since their last heated encounter, but he had a bad feeling that they hadn’t and it only added to his fear of the imminent future. Jeez he hoped they would get it together at least for their next performance, thanks god, that at least Calums heat will have been over by then, the next concert was 10 days away and omegas heat lasted 4 to 7 days, 8 at most.  
See, Luke did his homework, and now he knew all about the alpha omega business, he was a big boy now. (At least he thought he was.) Anyway Luke had to give it to Cal, that at least the new born omega had a good timing and also good deal of luck, originally they were supposed to play Manchester between London and Edinburg but there were some problems and they were cancelled. Thanks God!  
An hour later they made it through the traffic to the hotel they were staying in. No one knew they were coming to Edinburg sooner, so there was at least a good chance there will be no paparazzi around. As they moved their luggage to their rooms, Michael and Ashton acted civil but cold towards each other and Luke couldn’t help but feel like a child whose parents started filing in papers for divorce. Considering that there had never been anything but friendly atmosphere in the band, having two band members seriously fallen out kinda sucked.  
“Hey, want to go grab a beer or something tonight? “ he proposed in a hope to make his band mates go somewhere together and on that occasion maybe talk a little bit.  
“ Eee…sorry Luke, but I will call it a night for today, looking forward to a real bed.” Michael promptly made up an excuse.  
Luke rolled his eyes. “You´ve been sleeping for the whole ride. “  
Michael just shrugged. “What to say, I am a sleepy guy. “  
Now it was Ashtons turn to roll his eyes as he was passing by. “If you think that you will sneak out from the hotel, when we go out, and go bother Calum, forget it. I will be watching you, Clifford.” Luke sighed, it looked like there will be no appeasement and no beer grabbing any time soon, at least not until Calums heat was over. Luke was just praying that it would be soon, he already missed his friend greatly.  
And that’s when it hit him,he was a beta! The alphas couldn’t go near Calum while he was in heat, he was pretty sure Mali would kick both of them out anyway, be he as a beta he was a whole different story , he posed no danger to Cal, because he won’t even be able to smell him and vice versa – and surely Calum could use a little company, because as he had read, omegas first heat was more like a sickness than a regular heat, it was supposed to feel more like being ill than just sex-hungry. So, he had a good chance, that Mali would let him in to talk or even spend some time with Calum, if he wasn’t too busy with …eee… omega stuff.  
Luke shuddered at that.. it was so weird to imagine Calum in that way ,a little disgusting if he had to tell the truth. He thought that his disgust had something to do with the fact that he hadn’t presented yet. To be honest he hadn’t thought about sex that much either, which was quite a paradox because over the last year he became kind of an sex symbol and apparently every other girl in Australia wanted to have sex with him. Kissing girls felt nice, and so did a wank when he found a bit of time and privacy, but he usually wasn’t thinking about fucking when doing either. The idea of himself having sex felt too surreal, too absurd, he couldn’t explain it . He knew his bandmates would just make fun of him and tease him about being a baby even more if he told them anything of that, so he went around making random comments about what girls turned him on and which he would bang but he didn’t really mean any of it.  
Anyway the next morning Luke woke up early to carry out his genius plan. First he made sure that both Ashton and Michael were in their room. Ashton had insisted on the two alphas rooming together, because clearly Michael couldn’t be trusted after what had happened. Luke promptly agreed with him, even though he was actually pretty sure, that a chance of Michael somehow stealing into Calums room at Malis house without any of the occupants of the said house noticing was close to zero, but for the sake of his plan, having a room just for himself was the best scenario, so Luke supported Aston’s reasoning very eagerly. Michael ended up pissed on both of them, calling them “ suspicious pricks” and didn’t talk to them for the rest of the night.  
As the result of their rooming arrangements Luke had no problems sneaking out of the hotel early in the morning and finding out Malis house, but only when he was standing outside of it with his beanie jammed on his head, it dawned on him that he might have called Mali first. It was quite a little bit too early in the morning, Saturday on top of that and Call, Mali and her boyfriend might easily still be sleeping. Now he had no other choice than to ring the bell though. For a long time nothing happened , then he heard shuffling behind the door and then someone unlocking the door.  
“ Luke? What are you doing here. “ Mali said in a drowsy voice and Luke immediately felt ashamed.  
“ Ehmm, I am sorry to wake you up, but .. I just wondered if I could see Calum. “  
Mali stayed quiet for a few seconds blinking as if trying to focus on what he just said.  
“ Its 8 in the morning.” She said in the end.  
“ I know, I am sorry, it just.. it didn’t occur to me, it’s so early. “  
Mali sighed. “Are you here by yourself? “  
Luke just nodded.  
Mali sighed again. “Come inside. I’ll make you breakfast. “  
Luke entered the silent kitchen, it was simple but cozy and weirdly reminded him of home. In one corner he spotted the vase Calum had given Mali for her birthday last year, he recognized it immediately because they had been shopping for it together. While Luke was looking around, Mali made him a cup of tea.  
“ Do you want some eggs? I will make some for Tom anyway. “ she offered.  
“ Ehmm.. yeah , sure. Sorry for waking you up again. “  
“ Aaa, don’t worry about it, I would have to get up soon anyway. Tom will go pick up mom and dad at the airport. “  
“ Cals parents are here? “  
“ They bought a ticket immediately after Ashton called them. “  
“ Oh, I only found out yesterday. “  
“ Really? Ashton called me Thursday evening, right after he found Calum and Michael ehmm..”  
Luke blushed and nodded to let her know he was aware of what happened between the two of his friends. Mali turned back to the cooker and Luke was looking for something to say to interrupt the awkward silence, when he heard steps in the hallway. “ Morning sunshine. “ Tom, Malis boyfriend walked into the kitchen, came up to Mali and kissed her on her cheek. Then he turned to their visitor “Morning Luke, why so early? “  
“ I am sorry, I came to see Calum and didn’t realize...”  
“ stop it, I told you we don’t mind. I think it’s nice you came by, don’t know when Cal will be up though.” Mali said while Josh just smiled encouragingly to Luke and went to sneak his arms around her waist.  
Luke turned away from the intimate scene and mumbled “Oh, I can wait. “  
“ No interviews scheduled for today? “ Mali smiled.  
“ No.” Luke replied but it came down to him, that he in fact had no idea if they were supposed to be somewhere today or not. Hoped not.  
He was half way through his breakfast when his phone started ringing and Ashtons name appeared on the display.  
“ Where the hell are you! “ the drummers voice screeched from the phone.  
“ Well, I am at Malis. “  
“ What? “ A moment of silence. “ What are you doing there? “  
“Went to see Calum, but he is not up yet anyway. “  
Another silence and Luke could almost hear the wheels turning in his Ashtons head.  
“ Is it a problem? I thought that there will be nothing scheduled for today, so…” That was a blatant lie, he hadn’t thought about it at all.  
“ Its not THE problem, I want to talk to Mali. “  
“ Why? “  
“ Just give her the phone.” She was already reaching for the phone, because she had heard Ashton form the other side of the kitchen.  
“Its Ok ,Ash, really….. Of course he can stay here…. I don’t think so, he’s a beta. …. I think Calum will actually be glad…. I will make sure…. Of course… Bye Ash.”  
“ Ok, so Ashton wants me to let you know that you should be back at the hotel by 4, you have band meeting at 5. You should also be back sooner if you bothered us or Calum, but I am sure you won’t, actually I think you could have a lunch with us, me Josh, Cal and mom and dad. How does it sound? “  
“That’s great.” Luke immediately lighted upon hearing that, for a minute he was convinced, that Ashton will make them kick him out. That’s when a sleepy voice sounded from the doorway.  
“Luke?“  
Luke turned his head only to see a sleepily looking Calum standing in the doorway, wearing a loose grey sweatshirt which suspiciously looked like something he had seen on Ashton before. His hair looked sweaty and disheveled and he had his arms wrapped protectively around himself.  
“ Morning, Cals.” Mali greeted her brother with a broad smile. “Luke came to see you.”  
“ Ehmm.. hi.” Calum awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if trying decide if he should walk into the kitchen or not.  
“ Hi .” Luke tried to sound as cheerful as possible.  
“ Well, I will go get ready for the trip to the airport. “ Tom announced suddenly, for some reason sounding a bit nervous. Form the corner of his eye Luke saw Mali softly rubbing his shoulder before she kissed him on his cheek and he left the room through the other door than the ones that Calum currently stood in.  
“ Sit down, I will give you some breakfast. Do you want eggs or just some cereal? Or do you want me to bring you breakfast to bed. ?” Mali asked Calum, again using the nice and soothing almost motherly voice.  
“ I.. “ Calum flicked his eyes from her to Luke, looking like a deer caught in headlights. “ I will go to take shower.” He said and quickly left the room leaving Luke a bit unsure about whether his presence was appretiated.  
“Oh, ok. Don’t lock the door. “ Mali called after her brother.  
“Is he alright? “ Luke asked her.  
“ Oh, yeah, It’s just the heat, makes you sweat a lot. “ she explained diplomatically and it occurred to Luke that she actually knew what she was talking about, because she was an omega too.  
Half an hour later, Luke was sitting in an armchair next to Calums bed while Calum was sitting with his back rested against piled up pillows and picking at the breakfast Mali brought to him. It was really hot in there and Luke was sweating profoundly under his jacket and flannel shirt. He remembered what he had read the day before about omegas losing lot of body warmth while being in heat and that being the reason why they should always be kept warm. Even if they themselves often wanted to undress and open the windows to cool themselves, they shoudlnt be allowed to do so because they can get chilled easily and get sick while in heat. They should only be cooled by cooling packs and short cold baths, and always kept warm afterwards.  
“ So, how are you doing? “ Luke said to end the awkward silence.  
Calum shrugged his shoulders, keeping his mouth shut and looking anywhere but at Luke. He looked really small and kind of fragile like this, it was so unlike his usual chirpy and easygoing friend.  
“ Everybody has been missing you, man. You should see Ashton and Michael, I swear they are completely unbearable. “  
Calum visibly tensed and it downed on Luke, that maybe he shouldn’t have started the conversation by mentioning the alphas, especially Michael.  
“ Well, I ve been missing you like crazy. Hope you get through this as soon as possible. I miss my best friend, man.” He added.  
Calum smiled and looked at Luke for the first time upon hearing that.  
“ Mali says.. “ he started and his voice sounded strangely hoarse, he gave a cough to clear his voice and repeated “ Mali says, that it should be over in a day or two, that first heats doesn’t last long, usually. I think she is right, I already feel … better today.”  
“ That’s great.” Luke sat forward in the armchair and tried one of his brightest smiles, than got more serious and hesitated a little before he spoke again.  
“ Is it really that bad? I mean, are you like horny all the time? Must suck,man.”  
Calum nervously scratched the side of his neck and cleared his throat again. “It’s not that bad, I mean I am not horny all the time, It changes, comes in waves or something like that, you see.” He explained blushing slightly and rubbing at the side of his neck again.  
Luke could feel his face getting redder too, he hadn’t thought it would be so awkward to discuss this stuff with his bandmate. The room seemed even hotter now. “ Would you mind? “ he asked finally, referring to his one to many layers of clothes.  
Cal just shook his head and Luke undressed to his T –shirt.  
“ Sorry for the heat, Mali insists on keeping it warm here. And I kinda hate her for that.”  
“Its fine”  
Luke furiously thought about what to say next, he had so many questions but didn’t want to upset his friend.  
“ I slept with Michael..” Cal spat out out of sudden.  
Luke was taken aback by that admission. “ I know, Ash told me. “ he admitted in the end.  
“He did? “  
“ Yeah.”  
“ He was quiet mad, “ Calum started fidgeting with the collar of his sweatshirt.  
“ Well… he sure wasn’t mad at you.”  
“ You think so?”  
“ Positive!”  
“ How can you be so sure? “  
“You know how Ashton is, he tries to look after all of us. He was just worried that… that Michael hurt you or something. That he did something you didn’t want to..” Calums eyes widened almost comically upon hearing that.  
“ He didn’t, it was … “ his face got even redder. “ you cant understand, it was just so… weird. I don’t know how to explain. But he didn’t force me or anything like that. I wanted all of that .” He admitted and put his face into his hands, refusing to look at Luke again.  
Luke felt for his friend.” I get it Cal.”  
“ No, you don’t!”  
“ Well, obviously I can’t tell what it like, but… “  
“ Exactly, you are not an omega and never will be, so you have no idea what its like! You will be an alpha one day.”  
“Well. To tell the truth I kinda hope for beta. The alpha omega business doesn’t seem to be worth it “ Luke bit his tongue. “ I didn’t mean that there is something wrong with being an omega. Just..” Ok, time to shut up Hemmings, you big idiot. He slapped himself mentally.  
Calum smiled but the smile looked forced. “I really didn’t think I would end up like this either.” He said. “ It’s just so… degrading. ” he rubbed the side of his neck again and This time Luke didn’t miss the bruises and bite marks covering his skin.  
“ I mean, I knew there was some chance of me presenting as omega, because my mom is one and Mali is, but I still thought that I would be a beta like dad or even alpha maybe. But you are right, beta would be best.”  
Calum moved his hands to fidget with the hem of his sweatshirt for a change and appeared to be more restless now. Luke didn’t comment on that, but wondered if it was because of what they were talking about or because of… other things.  
Calum started eating again but only managed a few bites before He pushed his plate away clearly irritated and pulled the duvet which had been covering his lap closer to his chest.  
Luke still couldn’t stop thinking about the bruises on Calums neck and how they got there. Well, technically he knew how they got there but he still had a problem to wrap his head around it being Michaels doing.  
“For fuck sake!” Calum exclaimed suddenly and Luke flinched a little. Calum hugged the duvet closer to his chest and shivered a little, his whole body tensing. He seemed really uncomfortable now.  
“ Are you ok? “ Luke asked, unsure about what to do.  
“ Yeah” Calum answered but he didn’t stop fidgeting and started rubbing his neck again.  
After like ten minutes of awkwardness filled only with Luke rambling about whatever came to his mind and Calum nervously biting his lips, the door opened and Malis face appeared. “ Luke, Could you help me in the kitchen, I want to cook something fancy for mum.”  
“ Ehmm..” Luke looked at his flushed friend, who was adamantly avoiding his eyes again and sighed. “Ok, what should I do?”  
“ Start with the onions I put into the sink.”  
“ I am on it.”  
When he turned his head one last time he could see Mali siting down on Calums bed, her hand on his back, whispering something like “don’t fight it, Cal” .  
Luke spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen. He was so deep in thoughts that he almost cut himself a few times, and once he actually did. He thought about how lucky he was, that he at the worst case scenario he would one day present as an alpha, being omega seemed less and less appealing every second. He really felt sorry for his friend, It hurt him to see Cal so dejected and depressed, he wished he could help somehow but didn’t know how. He couldn’t fight the biology after all, he wished he could at least cheer him a little bit, but was at lost how to do it. On the top of that he couldn’t even talk to him now, after Mali so nicely kicked him out… most likely to give Calum some privacy for…..yeah.  
Around midday Calums parents arrived and Calums mom went to see her son right away. The rest of them wanted to give them some privacy to talk and went for a short walk to grocery store. Calums dad for some reason seemed really fond of Luke and voiced his hope that he would stay with them for lunch.  
When they returned, Calum was in a much better mood. He noticeably lighted up after talking with his mother, and even joined them for lunch. When it came to Luke though, Calum was still strangely distant, trying to look at and talk to anyone else but Luke. Luke tried to initiate a conversation few time, but it turned really awkward, so he gave it up in the end and rather kept to himself and to his food. He didn’t understand why his best friend was suddenly treating him like this, he hadn’t imagine that everything will be completely normal after Calum presented, but he hadn’t thought it would be this different. He tried to remind himself that Calum was still in heat and that it would probably get better once it was over, but the nasty feeling of loneliness he felt yesterday came back. He kinda lost all his appetite and only made himself to eat a few bites after Mali asked him if he didn’t like the meal. He didn’t want her to think her cooking was bad.  
After lunch Calum went back to his room and Luke contemplated going back to the hotel. By now it was painfully obvious that Calum wasn’t very keen of having him here, and he didn’t want to intrude anymore. He volunteered to wash the dishes and was prepared to say goodbye after that and leave. Suddenly Calums mom came up to him and took the towel from his hands.  
“ Why don’t you go talk to Calum, Luke? Hes in his room, watching some movie.”  
“ Well… I don’t think he wants to talk to me.”  
Calums mom scowled at that. “I know my son, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. He might be a bit embarrassed, about everything, but I know he wants to see you. Just talk to him, ok? I´ll finish the dishes.”  
She didn’t give him a choice really, so he obediently came to Calums room again.  
Calum paused the movie he had been watching upon seeing him.  
“ Hi… I ..” Luke took a breath and decided to be honest ”sorry for coming here like this, I thought that you might use a bit of company, but I didn’t want to intrude on your time with your family. Sorry for bothering you.” He said while looking to the ground.  
“ You didn’t bother me, Luke, I am glad you came. Just …”  
“ Just what? “  
“ I wish you could treat me the same as before, before I presented as omega. I am still the same, you know. “  
“ Really? I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to be treated the same way, because you are presented now, you are all grown up.”  
Calum frowned. “What are you talking about, you can’t grow up overnight. And why would I want you to treat me differently?”  
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I was… kinda afraid that you wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore, because… because I am still a child.” he admitted dejectedly.  
“ Luke…. “ Calum just stared at his friend who was standing there with his hands stuck into his pockets hypnotizing his shoes.  
“ I thought that YOU wouldn’t want to be my friend now, when I .. I am an omega.”  
Now it was Lukes turn to stare. “ Why would you think that? “  
“ Why would YOU think that? “  
“ I would never ever want you to stop being my friend. You are the best Cal.” Luke exclaimed. “ You couldn’t do anything to stop me from wanting to be your friend.”  
Calums face lighted up as a Christmas tree and his trademark smile appeared on it. “The same here. “ he said smiling.  
“ Really? So you are not mad at me? “  
“ Of course not, and you ? “  
“ Why would I be mad at you? “  
“ I don’t know, because I presented as omega, made things awkward in the band, made problems with the shows…”  
Luke stopped him halfway. “ No, Cal. It’s not your fault at all. And you didn’t make things awkward… well, Ashton and Michael are behaving like jerks right now, but they will come to their senses. And it’s their problem that they behave like possessive jealous alpha knotheads anyway, just ignore them.” Calum actually laughed at that and it was the nicest sound to Luke.  
“They do, really? “  
“ Oh, you have no idea! I told you, they are unbearable! I swear, you have to come back soon or they will drive me mad.”  
Calum laughed again. “I promise to be back as soon as possible, even mom thinks that the heat will be over soon. “  
“ I take you upon that promise. “ Lukes wide smile had been matching Calums by now. “ But seriously Calum, you are the best friend ever, I would rather bite my arm off than to let you go. Unless you wanted me to.”  
“ Never!” Calum got up from the bed ad before Luke could say anything he pulled him into a big hug. Luke wrapped his arms around his friend and laid his head on his shoulder. “ Love you , cal.”  
“ Me too. I am really glad you came. “  
Luks smile got even wider. Cal smelled like sweat and soap and even though Luke couldn’t smell his omega scent, he smelled really nice to him, like home. He felt really hot too, which shouldn’t really be a surprise , but Luke never ever was that close to an omega in heat and Calum really felt like a mini radiator against him, which was weird but kinda suited calum, because he was always the little sunshine of the band, as opposed to Luke who was the little troublemaker.  
They spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and talking about whatever and Lukes phone showed 16,45 when he finally made it back to the hotel. He mentally prepared himself for Ashton throwing a fit for him sneaking out and then being late, but to his greatest surprise Ashton didn’t comment on it at all and even seemed to be really nice to him. He only later found out that Cals parents had called the drummer and thanked him for sending Luke over, because Calum had been so grateful to be able to see at least one of his friends. Maybe Calums smell that stuck to Lukes clothes had something to do with that too though.


	3. Edinburgh II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, read to find out! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I am sorry again for any inconsistencies in band trivia. I am actually aware that Edinburg is not in Engalnd, so lets just pretend that tasting of english snacks in scottish capital makes sence. It doesnt , but you know.... I always wanted to use that interview and didnt thought it through when I sent them to Edinburg. Bear with me, please.  
> Also if you havent seen the interview , you can watc it here  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eit-KvCyXMc

Calum stayed at Malis even after his heat ended. He wasn’t in “quarantine” anymore though and all of his fellow band members were allowed in after his heat smell was completely aired out. Ashton and Luke were really enthusiastic  about seeing him again, Michael surprisingly didn’t seem so excited. Probably because he didn’t feel so keen to meet the parents of the boy, who he had fucked on the first night of his first heat. Who could blame him, Luke wouldn’t want to be in his skin. Especially when the first thing Cal’s dad did after them entering Malis flat   was taking Michael aside to “have a talk”. Michael never revealed what he had actually said to him, but he looked a bit green-colored after joining them again. The only one who appeared to sympathize with him was Tom though.

Calum was really glad to see his bandmates again, even though he seemed a little bit uncomfortable around Ashton and especially Michael.

“ So… are you looking forward to the show? “ Ashton asked from the ground he chose to sit on.

“ Of course.” “ Yeah!!” Luke and Calum said at the same time and laughed at that

“ We should practice a little bit before that though.” Michael offered and made himself comfortable in the armchair.

“ What? you think we forgot to play in a week? “ Ashton asked him bitingly.

“I actually agree with Michael. One more practice cannot hurt.” Luke said and earned a bitch face from Ashton.

“ You think a regular sound check won’t be enough? “ The drummer  asked. The only one who hadn’t voiced his opinion yet was Calum.

“ Ok, who thinks that we should squeeze in one more practice?“ Luke asked and raised his arm. Michael joined him and so did Calum after a bit of hesitation.

“Ok, ok.” said Ashton “ but we have the interview tomorrow, remember, the one, with the Heatworld.” Everyone chose to politely ignore the terrible pun!

“Well, we won’t spend the whole day there!” Michael shot back at him and Luke had a feeling that the argument wasn’t about the band practice anymore.

“ And we will have to find a place to jam in.”

“ Not that hard, we are in fucking Edinburg, not an Alaska.”

“ Common guys, it won’t be such a problem.” Luke tried to interfere but the only one who seemed to notice him was Calum. He let out a sigh! Hello. He was the frontman right? He sure could have a say in this, even though his penis couldn’t make a knot (yet).

Calum coughed, and suddenly the omega and the beta had the alphas’  attention. Luke rolled his eyes mentally. It showed what they were thinking with!

“I think we should discuss it with the management, they will set up a place. We will meet them tomorrow anyway, before the interview.“ Calum said. “ And we will have to discuss the omega situation too.” He added, a bit unsure. None had wanted to start this conversation. They all felt like they hadn’t gotten used to Cals new status themselves and they already had to think about telling the public.

“ Don’t worry about it. Everyone will be fine with it.” Ashton smiled encouragingly.

“Are you?“ asked Calum and it took a little while of awkward silence for the alphas to fully understand what Cal was asking.

Luke who was sitting next to him on his bed understood immediately and put a hand around his shoulders. “ We don’t care if you re a beta , omega or whatever. “ he said and looked pointedly at the other two.

“ Of course. “ Ashton blurted and Michael just nodded, clearly at loss about what to say.

To tell the truth, He hadn’t really seemed like himself from the moment he had walked into the room and clearly hadn’t possessed the level of control over his  emotions Ashton had. He was a younger alpha after all. He had only presented an year ago and he wasn’t so used to omegas, because his whole family  were betas. On the opposite Ashtons mother was an omega and his stepfather an alpha, so he kinda knew how these relationships worked. He had also dated an omega boy before he joined 5sos, so he had the experiences Michael was missing. And apart from that there was the obvious elephant in the room, that nobody wanted to talk about- the fact, that Michael and Calum had sex a week ago and hadn’t talked about  it or even talked to each other at all since then. Luke wasn’t sure but he had a hunch, that it had been Michaels first time with an omega too.

Jeez, what a mess! He almost felt sorry for the alpha,he kinda understood how confused Michael must have felt. Luke himself didn’t have any omega family members, things were simple at the Hemmings household, the men were alphas and the women were betas and it went on for a few generations with a few exceptions of men who presented as betas (and were slightly looked down on) and one uncle whom he had never seen, who married an omega and had an omega daughter. Omegas were the rarest of the three phenotypes, Luke remembered learning about some genetic reasons behind it, something about the O- gene being the recessive one or something like that, but to put it shortly, it was possible for someone to barely get to know any omegas at all during their lifetime. And so it happened that both Luke and Michael only started to meet more omegas, when they started to meet their fans, because  the odds to meet an omega in an 5sos fam was way bigger than to meet one  in a random crowd of people. Any omegas even remotely close to their heats were not allowed near them though, so… Luke couldn’t really blame Michael to lose control after smelling Callum, when he hadn’t been close to any omega in heat before.  It still didn’t mean it was completely fair to Calum either. Anyway the two of them should talk it over rather sooner than later, because tomorrow they got a meeting with management, then an interview and 3 days after that a show to play, so they better put their shit together by then.

“ Luke?”

“LUKE!” Luke got jerked from his thoughts by Calum snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“ Ashton said, that maybe he should go and call the management right away.”

“ Oh, I agree. I ll go with you.”

“ Well, I don’t think it will be necessary.” Ashton started looking for excuses.

“No, I really want to be there.”

“ Guys, just facetime them right?” Michael ended the discussion. So much for Lukes plan to leave Michael and Calum alone in the room.

The management set them up place and also gave them some instructions about how to disclose the information about Cal being an omega. They all agreed on that the best approach will be just no to make it a big deal.  They were at the age that it could be expected they would go through their presentation and if ( more like when) the interviewer asked about that they were supposed to play it cool. Basically th management left it upon them what they wanted to disclose and what not. They only advised them that it wouldn’t be very wise to let out that the details about Calums and Michael escapade.

“ You u told them? “ Calum snarled at them when the facetime ended.

“ Don’t look at me.” Michael defended.

Ashton looked a bit sheepish. “ Well, I thought, they should know it.”

“ Well, thats just great. Is there anyone who you haven’t called? You told mom , Mali, the crew.. I have one 90 years old aunt in Wellington, you might have missed out. Want me to get you her number? ” Calum looked pissed and embarrassed at the same time and Ashton blushed upon being at the receiving end of Calums anger.

“ Well, I just…” Ashton hanged his head in remorse” Im sorry.”

Michael reached his hand to pat on Calums shoulder but seemed to decide against it when Calum shot him not a very nice look.

“Well, what’s done is done.” He said instead. “ let’s move on and prepare what to say tomorrow.”

“ Yeah, they will sure ask about it, when they…” Luke stopped .

“ Just say it, when they smell me.” Calum finished and crossed his arms over his chest still a little bit pissed.

The interview went better than they had imagined, the interviewer wasn’t too nosy and quite nice and they even prepared a special picnic for them and a tasting of English snacks, because they had had to leave London so early. Calums mood improved the moment the secret was out, as if someone lifted a weight from his shoulders, the fans respones were great. The only problem remained the two alphas,whose constant dick measuring went to ridiculous  levels.

When the interviewer asked : “ Did you expect this turn of events or was it a surprise when Calum presented? How did you react? “

Ashton promptly answered. “ Some of us had bigger problems dealing with the situation.” Clearly referring to Michael. Calum kicked him into the shin under the table. Michael looked peeved, Luke gaped and the interviewer of course started to look interested.

“ Well, Ashton was quite glad actually. If Calum presented as alpha he wouldn’t be the most pretty alpha in the band anymore. There is still Luke though!” Michael sneered. Now Luke kicked Michael under the table.

“What?” he mimicked. “ He started that.”

Luke rolled his eyes. He wondered how will the picnic go.

They were seated at a round table with various more or less fishy looking snacks. The alphas were seated at the opposite sides with Calum and Luke squeezed in-between them.  The moment Luke sat down he knew Ashton and Michael would turn it into some kind of competition, as they were staring at each other provocatively over the table. They both looked pretty hot too, well, objectively speaking, Luke of course didn’t find them attractive, yuck! But he could understand, that Calum would. The omega chose to sit closer to Ashton and he could see Michael not being happy about it, but he thought it served him well for procrastinating and postponing having the talk with Calum. Luke sat down next to him, and Michael gave him a look which said I will settle for you then! Luke couldn’t help but feel a little bit offended!

“ Didn’t realize English people eat eyeballs.” Ashton commented and turned on his swivel chair getting closer into Calums personal space. Michael kept glaring at him from across the table. To Lukes great relief Calum wisely chose to ignore both of their behavior and decided to be brave and took a first bite of fishy looking pork pie than started being his silly self and pretended to throw up…

“ Just give us your thought process!” Michael inquired and Luke laughed.

 The next thing they were supposed to eat were seafood sticks. To looked like the baby fingers thing from the infamous scene n Love Actually.

“ I am confused why anyone would actually eat this!” Michael complained with eying the stick with more displeasure than he eyed Ashton. All of them took a bite, well all of them except Michael, and Ashton, who was watching him like a hawk immediately exclaimed “ you didn’t!” He made him take a bite in the end, and Michaels face showed he would rather bite Ashtons face of.

Maybe Luke would rather do that too, if it got him out of eating moreof the disgusting stuff.  The egg bites at least didn’t smell so bad, Michael on the other hand seemed more concerned with Ashtons hand touching Calums, when the alpha was stopping  him from cutting the egg bite in half. Ashton and Michael both stared challengingly at each other, as if they were waiting for a moment to catch each other cheating. But it also had its advantages, neither real gave a shit about whether Luke tasted it or not. Luke would be happy about ir, if it didn’t make him  felel strangely left out.

He soon realized that he should have taken advantage of that and wriggle out of eating the next thing, he regretted his decision instantly after the first bite, he seriously never tasted anything more disgusting. Both him and Calum spat it out while Ashton clearly waited for Michael being the next to give up. The guitarist chewed on it determined not to lose to Ashton, even though Luke could see the back of his neck sweating from the sheer effort not to throw up. Ashton made it one step further though, he even pretended to like the rubbish, and ate some more. Luke had to give it to him that he had balls. He doubted that the omega they were showing off for really gave a fuck, Calum seemed more concerned with trying not to throw up. So did Luke, because not only was the food fishy looking, it turned out to be also  fishy tasting.

“ Its like a fish , that drowned itself in salt. “ he complained.

And then came the actual highlight of the torture. The eyballish looking pickled onions. Michael actually turned a bit green upon seeing them.

“ You cant just not do it.”

“ I cant even have them on cheeseburger, how am I gonna eat a whole pickled onion.” He complained.

“ How am I going to.” Ashton argued. Both of them having the staring competition again.

Calum payed more attention to his pickled onion though. “ Its seeping.”

They all laughed at that.

When everyone had their own eyeball on a fork, Ashton exclaimed “ touch pickles”. Calum tried to escape and Ashton was very adamant about touching pickels, Luke wondered what other things of Calum he would like to touch.

He was brought back to reality though when he tasted the smarmy onion. Thanks god, he didn’t have to be the tough alpha here and he spat it out immediately.

“ That’s how I imagine the aliens would taste.” Michael commented.

“ I think that’s pretty good for an alien.” Calum answered and Michael looked ridiculously upset with Calum disagreeing with him. Luke almost felt sorry for him.

“Its kinda good.” Ashton agreed, what a bootlicker.

Thanks good the picnic was almost over, the only thing left, was a weirdly smelling cakes. “ They smell like an omen biscuits.” Calum said. Him and Ashton seemingly agreeing on that one too.

Ok, they made it through their first interview after Calums heat in one piece and things weren’t even that much awkward. Well, at least between three off them, Michael and Calum were a different story, hopefully no one noticed. Luke couldn’t decide on whose side to stand. He understood that Calum felt a bit angry at Michael and wished that the younger alpha would have more courage and talked to Calum finally. They needed to sort it out, and without clinging to stereotypes he thought  that Michael should be the one to initiate the conversation. Not because he was the alpha, but because he was the one who had maybe a little bit more responsibility of what happened in London.

On the other hand he sensed that there was maybe a little bit more to the whole affair when it came to Michael. The looks he had been giving to Calum when he thought no one was looking were not just about attraction, they were full of honest affection and Luke started to have a nagging suspicion that there was even something more to it. He knew that Michael would never admit it, but under the tough exterior, he was really sensitive and was able to harbor such a deep feelings, that Luke could even imagine if he would ever feel something as deep as this. He could hear them in his playing, in the way he managed the strings and put his heart into them . And know he could see them in the way the guitarist was looking at Calum, almost desperately, like he was the most amazing melody he ever heard.  He could only wish that the two of them will figure things out before someone seriously  got hurt.

 

 

 


	4. Edinburgh III.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long story short - Lashton make Malum talk.

The place, the management had provided for them to jam in, was actually quite awesome. It was on the very edge of the city, in one of the old factory building, but even though the surroundings looked like somewhere a gang members would meet up to plan a bank robbery, the equipment and the acoustics was pretty good and the place was in a such forsaken area that they didn’t have to be worried about some crazy fans sniffing them out.

With that said, Luke had to admit the practice itself was a disaster. It felt like half of the band was trying to actually make some work done, and the other half was just trying not to come in contact with each other too much, which not only didn’t look very good but also  kind of resulted in rhythmical disaster. Of course the other half responsible was made of Calum and Michael. It was more than obvious what was the real problem here, they were focusing more on their issues with each other than on the playing.  By the end of the first hour, even Ashton admitted that the additional practice was a good idea, because if they brought this to the stage, it would be a catastrophe.

Luke decide they needed a crisis plan and sneaked up on Ashton during a bathroom break.

“ Ash, we have to make them talk no matter what!” he barked at him and Ashton almost pissed on his shoes.

“ What the hell, Luke. Cant you give me a fucking second.  You almost gave me a heart attack. “

“ sorry…” Luke apologized half-heartedly. “ But … we have to do something, this is terrible.”

Ashton zipped up and went to wash his hands. He hummed in agreement. “ I know, we cant perform like this. “ he sounded as cross as Luke felt. “Michael had fucked it up.”  He added. Luke didn’t comment on that even though he really wanted to stand up for his friend, because he felt like the guitarist  wasn’t the only one at fault here, but he didn’t want to make more bad blood in the band so instead he just said

“It doesn’t matter now, we have make them talk it out somehow.”

Ashton seemed  to agree, even though with a bit of reluctance. He obviously wasn’t a big fan of the idea of the Malum together, alone, somewhere, where Ashton couldn’t check up on them, but he was aware of that being absolutely necessary if they didn’t  want to make fools of themselves next time they get on a stage.

Ten minutes later of them secretly discussing the topic, the door burst open and very pissed off Michael snapped at them. “ what the hell is taking you so long? We are paying for this place. “ he eyed them suspiciously. “ Were you jerking off or something? “ he sneered at them.  Ashton rolled his eyes and gave him the finger.

The rest of the practice went a tiny bit better … the musical part was almost all right, but the performance still looked forced and so not like them. Michael and Calum seemed cranky and disappointed but Luke wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. He winked at the drummer as they were leaving and Ashton nodded conspicuously.

 Back at the hotel, while Calum was having  a shower, Luke escaped the room, the two of them now shared, and went to visit Ashton and Michael. After Micahel exited the bathroom, he and the drummer cornered him and practically forced a promise out of him that he would talk to Calum. After that they kindly allowed him to get dressed and Luke returned to his room  while Ashton ordered some take in.

 An hour later, Luke and Calum , who still had no idea what was being planned on him, were chilling out on their beds, when Ashton and Michael came in carrying bags full of food.  Calum tensed a little upon seeing them growing a bit suspicious,but the only escape route was blocked by them, so he had no choice but stay. “ Do you mind us joining you? “ Ashton suggested happily. Calum opened his  mouth but Luke was already talking. “ Of course not.” Calum gave him a look but stayed.

After the food was eaten, Ashton suggested a movie. Calum again started fidgeting but was not given an opportunity to protest. Halfway through the movie, Lukes phone started ringing. “ oh, its mom, don’t stop the movie, it will be quick. “

He went out and returned to his room, while declining the call. He would have to thank Derek for fake calling him later.

Ashton excused himself 10 minutes later under the pretense of looking for a beer, because magically all of those who had been in the mini bar yesterday had somehow disappeared. ( Luke had brought them to Ashtons room while Calum was showering.) On his way out Ashton sneaked the other  key from the door from bedside table and locked his two other band mates in. He dint go for a beer though, instead he joined Luke in a hotel bar.

They bought a drink and waited, silently praying the other half of 5sos won’t kill itself upstairs. The positive sign was, that there were no incoming calls from either Michael or Calum, and both Ashton and Luke felt immensely grateful for being spared of angry bassist yelling at them thorough the phone to get the fuck back and let him out of the room.

One hour later the initial enthusiasm fell of and Ashton became a bit nervous  and Luke even had to buy him another drink to keep him at the bar.

“ Maybe, we shouldn’t have locked them in a _hotel room_.” Ashton uttered while downing his forth drink.

“ well,  that would be one way to sort it out!” Luke smirked.

Ashton shot him an almost  terrified look. “ Calm down! I am just kidding.”  Luke said but Ashton had already  started standing up again. “ I am just kidding” Luke tried to grab at his arm, but his center of gravity moved too far away from his bar stool as he was leaning back and he would fall of the fall if Ashton hadnt caught him. The barman send him a “ how drunk you are “ look, so Luke quickly recovered trying to look pointedly sober, because he didn’t want the man who just sold him a beer to actually start to ask how old he was.

“ Do you think they could actually..”

“ Jeez Ash, they are just talking. They are having an innocent conversation.”

“ Yeah , but hypothetically speaking, do you think they could ..”

“ No, I think there is higher probability of one of them trying climb out of the window! Stop being a jealous prick.”

“ I am not jealous.” Ashton gave the most unconvincing laugh ever.

“ Yeah, sure.”

Ashton looked insulted, but at least he stopped asking about wether Michael and Calum could be possibly  fucking right now.

The blissful silence lasted a whole minute. “ But they ve been there for a long time.”

“ Well, they cant really get out without the keys. That was the point.”

“ Yeah, but…”

“ Good lord, just give them some time, they need to figure it out.” Ashton shut up finally.

One  hour later Luke got a message from Calum saying “ bring the fucking key, you bastard” and then another “ and the beer!”

“ did you two talk???”

“ what do you think we were doing here the whole time, jackass”

“ ok, ok, we are going upstairs”  Luke typed, while Ashton was peeking over his shoulder, which was really annoying.

“ where are you? “ Calum typed

“ Are you two drinking at the bar without us.”

“ You totally are, right? “

“ Michael says you are  cunts. ”

Luke and Ashton high fived sfter reading that. The mission was complete, the two of them were finally talking, even though they were bitching about them. That was a start!

When they unlocked the door, Michael and Calum were sitting on the bed watching the movie, pointedly ignoring both Ashton and Luke.

“ So , how did it go? “ ashton asked curiously.

“ The woman was actually the thief and the cop caught her while she was..”

“ I don’t mean the movie, Michael.”

Michael took a potato chip from the bag, sprinkled the crumbles back into the bag and smirked. “I don’t know what you are talking about” he said with his mouth full and went on watching the screen. Luke could almost see a vein popping up on Ashotns forehead.

“ pay attention, Clifford, now will be the good scene” Calum nudged him without even looking at Luke or Ashton, but luke could see the corners of his mouth twitch.   

“ well, at least they seem to be talking now. “ ashton muttered towards Luke as they joined them on the beds.

After the movie ended  Ashton tried to drag Michael out of their room. The younger alpha claimed, obviously just to piss the drummer off, that they could switch rooms now, when Lucas and Ashton understood each other so well. Ashton was the only one who didn’t find it even remotely funny and made it his mission to  personally kick him out of the room.

Later, when Luke and Calum were lying in their beds with the lights out, ready to go to sleep.  Luke finally plucked up the courage to actually ask Calum how it went.

“ So, are you and Michael together now? “

“ No.” Calum declined immediately.

” We don’t feel like this about each other.” He extended after a while.

“ I just thought, that maybe when you.. you know.”

“ No. We are still friends, but … it was just a spur of a moment, just one night. We weren’t thinking… I mean obviously we weren’t really in our right minds. I was in heat and Michael, well.”  

“ Yeah.” Luke wondered if Michael was on the same page with this. Sure if Calum wanted to be just friend, Michael wouldn’t claim otherwise, because lets be honest, h e wasn’t the bravest one when it came to relationships.

“ It would be weird if we started dating each other. Don’t you think? “

“ I guess so. “ Honestly yeah , it would be weird, but also the relationship didn’t really seem right somehow. “ but if it wasn’t, would you want to? “ he asked finally the question that had been itching on his tongue since they returned to the room.

For some reason he was a bit afraid of the answer. Calum was silent for a moment. Luek could see his outline against the light that was slipping through the blinds. “ I don’t know, it is too soon. Everything happened so quickly.” He sighed “ I don’t want to be with anyone right now, I want to get used to it all first. “

“ I get that. “ Luke said and felt a bit relieved, it would be really weird if his two band members started dating , right?

“ but was he like not good at it or something? “

“ what! “ calum turned to face him in the dark.

“ You know, at the funny business. “

“ fuck you”

“ what, I am just asking for the purpose of .being prepared if you ever wanted..

“ If we wanted what? “

“ Make it a habit? “

In a second pillow landed on his head.

“ we wont become fuck buddies, hemmings. And its none of your business anyway.”

“ well, I beg to differ, I want to know if I am expected to knock on the dressing room before entering from now on.”

“ shut up bitch!” and this time a shoe landed square on his face.

“ ouch!” how Calum got hold a of a fucking trainer so quickly he had no idea.

 

“ Thanks by the way.”  Calum suddenly sounded serious.

“ For what.”

“ For being a treacherous bitch of a friend and locking me in my room .” he laughed.

“ Youre welcome.”

“ But you know what?  I will get back to you one day , just wait.”

“ When? “ Luke grinned.

“ Oh, I don’t now, just one day, when the right opportunity arises, when the cards turn around.” Luke could tell he was joking but at the same time he couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about the promise.

“ you mean, when I am the one presenting as omega.” Calum actually giggled at that.

“ oh no… as if you ever presented as omega.”

“ what ? you mean, I couldn’t be one? “ Luke feigned being offended.

“ I cant imagine you as omega, sorry.” Calum was full on laughing now.

“ Why not?” Luke didn’t really think it was possible that he would be an omega but still.. something about the idea of others automatically writing it off irritated him. As if he couldn’t pull off being an omega or something, sure he wouldn’t want to be one, hell no, but still…  

Calum was still laughing.  
“ What are you still laughing at, you jerk? “

“ I .. I am trying to imagine you as omega, no…I just cant!”

“ stop laughing, that s not funny.” Luke took the pillow and threw it back at him. But the laugh was infectious and soon both of them were laughing and throwing pillows at each other. At least before Ashton started banging at the wall and shouting at them to shut up and sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was short, but the next one will very long and exciting, I promise !!!!


	5. Chicago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wont tell you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun! :)

The concert wasn’t the best one they did, but it wasn’t by far the worst. It was like the energy came back to the band and all of them just used it for the best. The weather was good, the catering was good, the audience that gathered at the Murrayfield  stadium was awesome. They added their vocal chords to the band and they all had great time together. Everyone cheered for Calum, when he stepped up on stage and Luke could see how he grew happier and more confident every second. The nerves they had before the show were long gone by the time they started Disconnected, the second song in the set list, and long story short, they ended up having something to celebrate that night.

Over the next few weeks things slowly came back to normal, everyone got used to Calums new status, even Ashton and Michael eventually found out that bombarding Calum with their attention will get them nowhere and that they need to give him some space. Luke soon figured out that his fears of becoming the third or rather forth wheel in the band were pretty much futile. He also didn’t lose his best friend, as he had feared, if anything he got to spend much more time with Calum now. It was because they had to always share rooms now, they had switched bunks, so that they were sleeping next to each other on the bus, and whenever Calum was about to go somewhere, whether alone or with Michael, Ashton more or less insisted on Luke joining them, so in the end they were together almost 24/7. Michael of course kept rolling his eyes on that, giving Ashton various versions of his non-impressed look, but at the end of the day what really mattered was, that Calum didn’t mind bringing Luke along at all, so Michael,  as the sucker for Calum he was, conformed to it too. Needless to say, that Luke didn’t have any objections against becoming Calums chaperone either, he loved spending time with his best friend and also being Calums friend turned out to be quite advantageous. One day Ashton was gifted a box of Belgium chocolates, he made the mistake of offering to share with Calum, probably in hope to get some plus points from the omega, but Calum deviously stole the whole box, than holed up somewhere with Luke and the ate all of them. Ashton kind of lost his illusions about innocent little omega after that and also started hiding his food again. The other day Michael offered to pay for Calums dinner and somehow, no one knew exactly how, it turned out he got to pay for Luke’s too. So Luke’s worries of the future showed to be really useless.

Calum treated them all the same as when he was a beta, he didn’t prefer one of the alphas or even seek their company more then Luke’s one. The tour went on, they finished Europe and moved over the Atlantic to play in Canada and then the US. By the time the stepped out of the plane in Toronto though, all the band members were pretty much on tenterhooks, because it had been more than two months now since Calums first heat and it the likeliness of him going into another one was rising every day. Usually omegas had their heats every 6 weeks, it was the average time between two heats, but periods  from 5 to 10 weeks were still considered pretty much normal. Younger omegas tended to have more frequent heats, while the mature ones less frequent. These were well known facts, but to Calums great horror the more time passed since his last heat, the more people felt compelled to remind him of them.  Everybody obviously felt like they had to care about his business,  be it the crew, the ever so worried management, his parents, who had returned to Sydney, Mali, who called him every other day or his bandmates, who at least knew when to shut up. And then there were the fans, whose favorite question moved from “ what color will Michael dye his hair next? “ to “ when will Calum have his next heat? “ The omega had a hard time hiding his annoyance every time someone came up with this question and  had to to refrain from barking out “ I don’t have the crystal ball either, bitches. Its not like my body has a timetable.”

The band of course had talked it out too. They had decided without much argument there, that they would play the shows without Calum, they would make it work somehow.  The management had offered to acquire a substitute bass for them but they had refused, they didn’t want anyone to take Calums place, even if it was just for a few shows. Calum claimed he wouldn’t have minded, but Luke could tell he was actually really thankful for them.

The delayed heat finally caught up with him at the end of August in Chicago and again Luke couldn’t help but envy Calums luck, the day he started feeling the symptoms was conveniently  the day of their last show in Chicago and the next show was 10 days away in Pasadena. How did he manage to time that so perfectly was beyond Luke’s imagination. Of course there broke out a heated discussion about the upcoming show. Ashton brought up, that they could play without Calum that evening, but the bassist had none of that, claiming that he was well enough to play, that the heat itself would only come in full force  tomorrow or even the day after that. Michael wisely decided to stay out of it, humbly pointing out that Calum himself had to know best where his limits were. Luke didn’t want to push Calum, but was actually really glad that he decided to play, because he was quite afraid of playing without their bassist, his confidence on stage went only as far as he had all his band members by his side and losing one was like losing an arm. Ashton didn’t want to budge though, pointing out that he was the only experienced alpha in the band,  and that the real problem wasn’t Calums capability to play but the scent, that had started cumulating around him and would only get stronger once they start sweating on the stage. The crew, the stuff provided by the venue, and the band members themselves would become affected by it. Calum became less stubborn after hearing him out and decided to outright ask all the alphas involved , the member of the band and the crew, if they could handle being around him that evening and still do their job. In the end they all agreed, even Ashton eventually gave in and said that you can’t just play it safe all the time and you need to take a little risk from time to time.

 

And risk it was, during sound check  Calums scent got more rich and luscious and everyone around got more nervous and restless. It was too late to pack it in though. In an attempt to make it better Calum showered in an awfully smelling shampoo designed to neutralize the omega heat scent, the stuff smelled so bad that the stench would probably drown a smell of a rotting corpse. Even Michael cringed upon smelling Calum, comparing the smell to the terribly scented car freshener only 100times worse. Calum seemed equal part relieved and upset upon hearing that, and Michael earned himself a smack from the drummer anyway.

 Unfortunately the neutralizer wore out quite quickly after they got on stage and at the same time the physical and emotional distress seemed to move Calums body into heat faster. They were all doing their best, even though they were clearly affected, everyone stayed professional and there were almost no mishaps when it came to music. The show became a mess though, Michaels voice got more huskier and the way he was treating the strings was in no way ideal but seemed to make the female part of audience go absolutely crazy. Luke wasn’t surprised when he saw the front lines almost fainting. Ashton was banging the drums as if his life depended on it, his first pair of sticks only holding out for three whole songs before he managed to break them.

But Luke was probably most in awe of the omega. He could tell Calum was little out of it, but the audience probably couldn’t. His seemed out of breath from time to time, but then again at the same time his voice got more sensual and it seemed to drew the audience in.

Halfway thought he show there was so much sexual energy running in the air that it even affected Luke, and he usually considered himself pretty immune. He could feel himself sweating under his Green Day T-shirt as the waves of sexual frustration kept rolling of the alphas. Michaels fingers were slipping on the strings more often, not enough o fuck the song but enough so he could hear it, and from where Luke was standing he could see strands of sweat running down the back of his neck and adding to the stains on his sweat drenched t- shirt. Calums singing sounded more and more breathy and Michael started to slur his lines into husky growls. Luke could embarrassingly feel himself harden in his pants under the onslaught of pheromones in the air and only prayed that no one caught it one camera.

But even though they were all struggling, the show was sick. The sexual energy somehow added to their usual energy on stage and the atmosphere was unbelievable. By the end both them and the audience went into some kind of trance and were having a great time, They were playing almost  on autopilot  and Luke even didn’t care anymore that they were making mistakes, neither that he was hard on stage and someone could possibly see or even catch it on camera , which he would feel hugely embarrassed about any other time.

 They were enthusiastic when they were leaving the stage, Calum was leaning on Luke for support but his smile was reaching from one ear to the other. He didn’t even mind when Ashton hugged them both form behind squeezing them in his sweaty arms. Michael kept a distance from them but even he looked satisfied.  

The second they entered their dressing room, Calum collapsed onto the sofa face forward showing no intention to move any time soon, he was laying there like a corpse, only now and then  letting out a current of barely audible swearwords.

“ it was fucking good right.” he managed to articulate properly  after 5 minutes of struggling .

“ yeah..” Luke  dried his face with a towel and collapsed into the closest chair.

“ god, Im so looking forward to the hotel.” Calum moaned out.

“ you alright? “

“ will live. “ he whined but made no move to stand up.

“ Come on, lets take a shower, it will fresh u up. Wanna help?”

“ No, I ll manage.” Calum finally forced himself to stand up and drew himself into the enclosed bathroom.

Luke went to visit the other guys in their dressing room but Ashton was nowhere to be found and when he was trying to find Michael he almost walked in on him jerking of in the bathroom. In the last moment he caught himself and soundlessly backed away from the door.  Fuck, that was close. Michael either didn’t notice him or didn’t care judging by The soft groans that were still coming from inside, Luke shivered and to his greatest embarrassment he realized that he was getting hard again.   He escaped  the dressing room as quickly as possible before Michael could notice him, because that would be pretty awkward. Not that they would never hear each other on the tour bus, Fuck there wasn’t any privacy there, and there was a code not to give your band mates shit unless they were annoyingly loud, and Michael used to be in the bunk right next to him so this wasn’t the first time he heard him wanking, neither the first time he walked in on him doing that in a bathroom. But he never heard him sound so desperate. Maybe it was just himself being tense  and high form the show, but he could feel the soft growls Michael was making all the way down in his stomach. He let out a shaky breath, looks like he could use a wank too, but there was no time for that actually, he and Calum drove to the hotel ahead of the other two and obviously Calum was the one who was given special treatment today so everything conformed to it.  So Luke stuffed into the car when they told him to and waited. It was a silent ride, the exhaustion of the night caught up with them, and they even managed to fall asleep during the short ride. Calum curled up in his arms like a kitten halfway to the hotel and Luke closed his armd protectively before he closed his eyes too.

The heat took 7 days this time, during which the band stayed in Chicago. Calum got his own room where he had enough privacy. Jo, the beta member of the 5sos crew, went to check up on him regularly, brought him food etc. Luke tried to suggest that he could take care of his friend just as well, but for some reason Calum disagreed. Luke decide not overthink it, he probably just didn’t want to be seen in such a vulnerable position. Anyway two days into his heat he started messaging Luke whenever he felt up to it and they watched a movie or even played a game together. But still most of the time Luke just felt bored. Ashton and Michael were holed up in their rooms doing who knows what. He and Ashton went sight-seeing for a day, it was fun , but immediately after they came to the hotel, Ashton closed himself of in his room and Luke ended up alone again. Michael spent a lot of time with Ben, Luke figured that it was more difficult for Michael to stay away from Calum because he had already slept with him and Ben as the older and already plenty experienced alpha probably had some piece of advice that could help.

Luke didn’t like the loneliness he felt when all of his band members were minding their own business. By now He was so used to having them around all the time that a week with seeing them only now and then when there was some interview or a band meeting was unsettling.

The other unsettling thing were the occasional moans that weren’t blocked by the wall between his and Calums room. He could swear he heard both Ashtons and Michaels name a few times, and that was really tmi. That combined with the image of Michael masturbating after their last concert was making him cringe. Where were the sweet old times, when he didn’t have to think about his bandmates like this? Gone for good obviously, looks like he would have to suck it up and get used to how things are now. Maybe he could find himself a girlfriend, could be fun, but to be honest, he didn’t really feel like it, the idea that he would have to sleep with kinda scared him. The guys were right, he was still such a baby.

 

 


	6. New Orleans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael overhears something and takes advantage of that.

After Calum´s second heat ended, they moved to Pasadena and the tour went on. Things gradually got back to normal, or at least close enough to . Michael didn’t quit shooting Calum enamored glances whenever the kiwi wasn´t looking, but at least he was  more subtle now. The omega remained seemingly oblivious to the alphas inner struggle, but Luke suspected, that he had to have at least some clue about Michaels feelings, no one was that ignorant.

In the meantime Ashton had nominated himself into the role of Calums guardian and kinda big brother figure and even though he didn’t impose himself on him anymore, he was always there watching from afar if the omega was safe and sound and unbothered by some freakish alpha or whoever. He did the same for Luke and even Mikey, but Luke could see him being more on edge when it came to Calum than to anyone else. Luke couldn’t find a single fucking reason why he should feel jealous of something as stupid and mundane as that, but he kinda did. If something he should bless the lord, that he spared him of this misery, but NO, apparently he was a attention seeker through and through and being left alone didn’t work well with him. 

Being the little bitch he was and showing how much he loved his band  Luke tried to taunt Calum a few times about  what he overheard through the wall during his heat, but the latter became so embarrassed that he took pity on him and decided against mentioning it anymore. Also he caught Ashton giving him not so friendly look, because of course he could sense Calums discomfort from the other end of the tour bus now and quickly came over,  and Luke sure as hell didn’t want to be erased from the short list of people who were trusted to be left alone with Calum. He earned himself a nice smack from Ashton later, but the worst sequel to his poor attempt of making fun from the omega, was yet to come. It was the other alpha who made him really and profoundly regret his misbehavior, but not in a way he would have predicted.    

One night after the show in New Orleans Luke felt especially worn out and  after having a well deserved shower he wished nothing more than just fall into his bed and sleep for the rest of the night,  Michael invited himself into his room without knocking and scared the shit out Luke on his way out of the bathroom.

“ Jeez, so glad we are not sharing rooms anymore, you are splashing water everywhere.” Michael sneered, obviously very amused by the fright he gave Luke.

Luke glared at him while still trying to slow down his heartbeat. “ What the hell, you almost made me shit my pants.”

“ That’s karma, bitch. And you are wearing no pants, princess.” Michael smirked and helped himself onto his bad, pushing Lukes stage clothes on the floor.

Luke blushed at the nickname, Michael hadn’t called him that in a long time. Than he blushed more when he realized he was only wearing a towel, but its not like they hadn’t seen each naked for billion times already, so he decide not tom make it a big deal. He dug out some sweatpants from his suitcase and put them on, while the alpha sprawled on his bed and  didn’t even have the decency to look away from Lukes naked ass while he was changing.

“ What do you want, jackass, I am dead- beat, just want to go to  sleep.” He asked the alpha in a naïve hope that it would make him get out of his room faster and he  would regain control of his bed. He didn’t know though, that the very purpose of Michael being there was to elicit some information about Calum and his heat. It turned out, that he had overheard some of Lukes previous teasing and of course he saw an opportunity to get at some info about how Calums second heat went.

“You know, Mikey, me and Cal don’t really talk about things like these!”  Luke tried to play dumb pretending not to get what the alpha was asking.

“ I know, just you know… if he ever talked about me or maybe…if you heard something” he trailed off and  threw his hands in the air obviously trying to make Luke connect the dots. At least he seemed to be as embarrassed as Luke felt now.

But he obviously wasn’t  planning to leave without at least some kind of answer and Luke really wanted to  get at least few hours of sleep before having to board the tour bus again.

Luke unfortunately could pretty much imagine what kind of answer Mikey would like to hear. – Oh, Mikey, he was moaning your name all the time he was in heat. It seemed like he really wanted to have you there. He kept chanting, oh Clifford I want your dick and blah, blah, blah…- Well, even though some of it was truth, technically, Luke didn’t consider himself such a shitty friend to rat on Calum like that, actually he considered himself an amazing friend ( sometimes he thought that being a good friend was the only talent he had) and he would never betrayed Calums trust.

“ I don’t think I should really tell you anything. Its kinda personal.” He tried to sound firm and unyielding but  he found himself struggling  to escape Michaels intense stare.

“ Common, I won’t give you away, and it won’t hurt anyone.” The alpha pleaded while  he pushed himself closer to Luke who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and gave him the look of a kicked kitten. He had his hair colored bright red now, and it made him look bold and intimidating, but he still could pull of the sweetest, most innocent puppy eyes Luke had ever seen. It didn’t help that Luke was kinda sucker for that look.

“ Its really private , Michael. Why don’t you  grow a pair and ask Calum himself , huh? “ he tried to play tough and prayed the redhead would just get discouraged, drop the topic and get out of his room.

Michael let out a deep sigh. “ I should have known you would be on Ashotns side in this. “ he accused him childishly. “I thought we were friends, hemmings.” No princess anymore, ha? And it was so unfair, the alpha had no right to ask something like that from him and Luke could feel blood rushing to his cheeks from how humiliated he felt.

But even though the rational  Luke knew that the alphas behaviour was absolutely ridiculous and very very rude,  and that Calum would be mighty mad with him,  if he ever found out and even if Luke did tell Michael something, he would probably feel like a tool and the worst friend ever  about that later, there  was some other part of him that  just wanted to make the alpha like him again.

“ It really isn’t about taking sides.” He tried to defend himself. “ I am not on anyone’s side in this, and I don’t  even know that much. Nothing that could be any of your interest anyway.”

“ Then why won’t you tell me at least what you know, I know you know something, you had that look after Calums heat ended.”

“ What look? “

“ The I know more than I would like to look. The molested child look.”

“ No, I didn’t! “ Luke got of the bed and folded his arms over his naked chest.

“ you so did! You couldn’t even look at me for like a week. “ And wow, Luke  didn’t even have an idea that he was being so obvious and it was just embarrassing to find out like this. He felt his cheeks heating up again.

“ Why should I tell you anything if you are being a dick. I won’t tell you and I wouldn’t tell Ashton either if he asked. But he didn’t, because obviously he has more respect for Calum than you do” He spat at Michael offended. “ And stop treating me like a child, I am fucking 18!”

Michael at least looked a bit apologetically upon being accused of being disrespectful of Calum, But he didn’t give up, instead he clearly decided to go on the offensive and raised from the bed to tower over Luke

“ Yup, but you are a beta, you cant understand. And Lets face it, if you are stil beta now, you will probably stay one. “ He said and it came out more than slightly contemptuous. Luke could feel his face was burning. It was a low move, Michael knew it was a sensitive topic for him.

“ You don’t know that!  And you presented an year ago, its not like its fucking prehistory.“ He must have looked more upset than he thought because Michaels face kinda softened and he appeared almost regretful.

“ Im sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”

Luke kept silent and looked away from the alpha.

Michael hanged his head and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “ I m really sorry, I shouldn’t have used this- You know,  I just said that to make you angry, right?  I don’t really think you will stay a beta. Not with shoulders like this, man. “ he smirked but without any attempt of  being mean this time.

He stood next to Luke and put a hand on his shoulder, it didn’t calm Luke at all, if anything it made him more uncomfortable.

“Don’t be mad please, I am being a dick. “ Michael  pleaded.

“ Am not..” he gently shook the alphas hand off and turned his head to look him in the eyes again, they were full of honest remorse.

Mike smiled  and moved a little bit further form him.

 “ Look, I know you and Cal are best friends now, and you would never betray him. But its not like I don’t care about him anymore ... Jeez, I know the man since kindergarten, before any of you. Before we even talked.”  Michael gestured  between the two of them and Luek smiled. That was true, they used to hate each other, while Malum were always besties.  

“We used to hang out all the time  and we used to talk about everything… everything, and now… we just don’t.” Michael  gave a nervous laugh and to Luke he suddenly seemed kinda smaller and younger.

“ Stuff happened and I just don’t know where I stand, okay? and its probably natural  after his presentation, but I feel like I should be … I should do more!   I am probably explaining terribly, you must think I am stupid.“ he looked at Luke again and the beta froze. The sheer intensity of the look, the vulnerability which the alpha momentarily let out left him speechless. Something in his chest snapped and he could feel his resistance crumbling.

“ No, I think I understand what you are trying to say.” He spoke quietly as if trying not to frighten the alpha. He turned to the side so that he didn’t have to look the alpha straight in the eyes anymore.

“ We haven’t talked about that much, but… I cant help but feel like I still have a chance, like there should be more to it than just… just going back to being friends. ” Michael trailed off and gulped. He loves him, he really really loves him, Luke realized with sudden clarity and he didn’t know what to do with this piece of knowledge.

“ I don’t ask you to give out anything that Calum confided to you, just give me some hint, maybe. Please, you spend more time with him now, probably know him better than anyone right now and … I just want to know where I stand.” Michaels voice sounded raw and so unlike his usual chirpy, little sarcastic, little pompous voice, that there was no way it was anything else but honest plea.

In the end Luke decide to take mercy on him.

“ I think he is still really confused about all the omega stuff” he begun and Michael held his breath. “ he hasn’t said much to me, you know how he is, and also I am not an omega, he wont talk to me about some stuff. “

“ Yeah but..” 

“ I don’t think  that  he wouldn’t want you. I think.. honestly, he thinks very high of you, he just needs some time. “   He wasn’t looking at the alpha when he was saying that instead he was staring at the pattern of the closest pillowcase. “I think you ve got a chance with him, if you don’t pressure him too much. “ He didn’t know why it was so hard to say these things, they were true and he should probably be happy about the two of his friends, but the thing was…. He just wasn’t.

“ You think so? “ Michael sounded so unbelievably unsure, that Luke could almost picture the very much younger still a beta Michael, who he had been meeting in the high school hallways instead of this cool and confident red head alpha who was standing before him.

“ Yeah, I do! I think he really cares about you. “ Michael lighted up almost ridiculously upon hearing that.  Luke felt a sharp pang in his chest. All of sudden he wanted to shout at Michael instead of helping, telling why the hell he even cared, why was he even bothering him with this shit, why won’t he ask Calum or John , or Mali or whoever. It was very  confusing. “ Just give him some time “ he said instead, his own voice sounding very strange to him.

“ I know. Sorry.” And why the hell did Michael apologized to Luke. He wasn’t calums mother, right?

Luke grew more uncomfortable it it was even possible, he didn’t understand his own feelings anymore. He really started wishing Michael would just finally   return to his room and left him alone. Before he could figure how to say it without sounding like an absolute jerk , Michael closed the space between them and crushed him into a warm  hug. Luke who hadn’t been expecting that at all, remained awkwardly stiff for a moment his hands stuck in his pockets before they naturally found the way around Michael waist. Luke let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding as he felt his face being  pressed into the crook of Michaels neck. It somehow didn’t feel like any other hug he had with anyone else or even Micahel himself. It felt more special, warmer and safer and the smell of Michaels sweat and cologne was just…

“ Thanks, you really are a good friend.” Michael mumbled into his hair.

Lukes heartbeat got quicker and for a moment he felt like he could just lay his head on Michaels shoulder and stay like this forever but before he could actually  do something crazy and  stupid like that, Michael was already letting him go and with one last playful smack on the shoulder he distanced himself form him.

“I owe you, man.” He said, his face still all lit up.

Luke just waved his hand on this. He didn’t feel like saying anything.

  Michael nodded and turned to the door.

“ Don’t worry, I wont tell anything to Cal.” He said from the doorway. “ And go to sleep soon, you look like  a wreck.” Was the last thing he threw at Luke before being finally gone.

Luke fell down on the bed, completely exhausted,  he was a wreck right? They insulted themselves playfully all the time, it wasnt even a proper insult now, because he honestly probably looked worse than a  wreck at the moment, but why did he even care? Why did he care that Michael , who used to be the biggest ladies man in the band, was so in love with omega but still very much male Calum,  that he probably couldn’t even see straight  right now. Why did it hurt so much, that he probably thought of him as an angel sent from heaven while Luke was the dude who he came to to whine about it. The one who looked like wreck, right? Luke’s eyes started to sting and he angrily rubbed at them ,  he refused to cry about something he didn’t even understand. He should go to sleep, he already lost enough time dealing with this nonsense.

  But Even though he felt hammered, his spend the most of the night rolling around trying to switch his brain off. But when he finaly dropped off, he became dead to the world and in the morning David had to personally kick him out of the bed to move him onto the tour bus, so that they could drive to another city.  Michael smiled apologetically at him, but Luke was so terribly tired that for a change he didn’t give a shit. The tour went on. Another city, another venue, another stage, singing , palying and celebrating and so on and on. Luke only gathered enough time and energy to give a more profound thought to what had happened few days later. But by then it felt like a dream to him, a weird and very distant dream, he remembered only vaguely. He had a hard time to identify with how he felt back then and to be truthful he didn’t really try very hard to. They were still on the tour anyway and there was so little time for literally everything that dwelling on some weird unexplainable feelings he got to experience few days away didnt seem worth it. The tour was almost over, and all of them were just looking forward for coming home to good old Australia.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like the way the story is going. Please let me know in the comment section.


	7. Sydney I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short, but very important chapter.

Home sweet home again. Finally they made it through their second world tour and returned back to Sydney. They were ecstatic to see their families again, and their families could hardly wait to see them.  Especially Calums parents who were still a little bit worried about how their omega son coped with the hectic tour life. Calum practically begged Luke to pay them a visit as soon as possible, so that he didn’t have to deal with them on his own. Luke promised to try his best but he had a hunch that it won’t be so easy to get his own family of his back. Especially his mother won´t let him cop out of collective family activities, now that he was finally home again. Luckily there were still some band commitments they had to get through so, there was some time for them  to spend with each other. One would tell that more than half a year of seeing each others faces all day every day would be enough to make them fed up with each other, but it didn’t take more than a week for them to start to miss each other again. At least that was how Luke felt.

To his greatest luck, it wasn’t just their families, who had missed them greatly, but also the Aussie media. If they had it their own way, the boys would even sleep in the studios. Luke wouldn’t mind it that much especially after this one dinner at home, which went, at least in his eyes, horribly wrong.

At first everything was awesome, his mom made a meal, Ben and Jack, who popped in  for the dinner, laid the table while Luke was laying around on the sofa, because his mom insisted that he had a well deserved rest. He didn’t mind it at all because if someone offered to let him be his lazy self for once, why would he protest. Half way through the dinner, his brother asked about Calum. Luke was pretty sure that Ben didn’t mean any evil with the innocent question, he simply asked out of curiosity, but it turned out horribly.  

“ Dude, how is Calum doing ?” he asked, with his mouth full, earning Lis´ disapproving look.

“ Fine. He’s fine. “ Luke said, hoping the conversation won’t stick with this topic. To no avail.

“ Tell me, how do you guys do it, when he goes in heat on tour? “ his other brother asked this time, sudden interest sparkling in his eyes.

Luke took a mouthful of potatoes to postpone having to answer. Thanks God he hadn’t invited Calum over.

“ Boys, I don’t think we should talk about this at dinner. It’s not becoming.” Lis cut him off and Luke should probably feel grateful, but he didn’t like something in her expression when she said “not becoming”. Surely she wouldn’t look down on Calum now, when he was an omega, when the whole world accepted him without as much as blink of an eye. But Luke was suddenly harshly  reminded by his own brain, that his “ whole world” didn’t actually represent the entire world, rather it was quite a small world, hardly bigger than the asteroid B6121, that the Little Prince lived on while blissfully ignoring the rest of the galaxy. And the asteroid 5SOS hardly represented how the rest of the world worked as well. Yes, their whole fandom accepted Calum without hesitation, but the good deal of the Fam was made up of omegas, so it was only natural that they cheered for Calum. Globally the omegas were still a minority, in some cultures and communities not being treated very nicely. The male omegas were even rarer, which obviously meant, some people had even more problems with them.

Surely his parents wouldn’t be one of those people though, would they? Before he could finish his mental debate his brothers voice jerked him from his thoughts.

“ But still, no offence, but I thought that when an omega was in heat, they only think about like sex right? How can he play? “

Luke dropped his fork while his mother sighed.

“ well, he obviously doesn’t.” Luke retorted “ He –“

He was cut off by his father clearing his throat. “ I am sure this is very interesting topic, but could you discuss when we are not eating.” He said rather harshly.

Luke opened his mouth to say something and caught himself because, if his parents really were opposed to the idea of male omegas, he didn’t want to deal with it right now either. He let out a sigh, picked up his fork and started eating again.

Later when he was putting the dishes into dishwasher his phone beeped and when he unlocked it it showed it was the very omega, who had been the topic of the conversation who messaged him.

“ Can I come over, my parents are killing me !”

Luke bit his lower lip. He would really like to answer – Omg, yes!!! Hurry up.- but he wasn’t sure that it would be the brightest idea right now. So he just typed.

“ Not a good time, man. Family stuff.”

“ L Ok. Maybe some other time. “ Calum answered and Luke sighed, but didn’t answer to that, he just didn’t know, what to write to that.

He was so occupied with his thoughts that he he didn’t even hear Jack coming over to him  with a pile of dirty plates.

“ Earth to Lucas.”

Luke jumped up upon being startled from his thoughts.

“ What are you doing , jerk.” He hit his arm.

“Ouch. Watch out for the plates.” Jack mocked him, carefully  looked around watching out for their mum   and then  put them with a loud jingle on the counter and left them there.

“ So…”

“ What? “

“ So, tell me. Are any of you lot having fun with Calum? “

And what!?! “ What the hell are you getting at? “

“ You know what I mean, being alone all the time, just the 4 of you..”

“ And Ben, Derek, David…”

“Nah. They don’t count. Anyway Two alphas and one lonely omega in a small tour bus. I get it, you are no fun and all work, baby brother, but what about Ash and Michael.?” Jack gave him a  wink.

Luke had a good mind to sock him one. “ Are you serious?” he shut the dishwasher closed and turned to glare at the jerk of his brother.

Why was it always him whom people went to, to ask stupid, private or other  borderline inappropriate questions? Why him… all the fucking time!!! Did he look like  the girl from Mean girls ( he only watched it because Michael forced him to), the one with hair  so big, because it was full of secrets? Did his hair look like that?  Or was it because everyone still considered him a baby, even though he was of age now. He could drive , he could drink , he could fucking join an army if he wanted to. Somehow people still thought of him as a child, because he was the youngest one in the band, the youngest one in the family and so on, so somehow they came to the conclusion it wasn’t so awkward to talk to him about awkward stuff right? Well, big news, it was awkward as hell, at least to him it was!

“ Fuck off, or I smack you.”

“ common, don’t be such a spoilsport. Wait---- does that mean, there has been actually something going on? “ Johns eyes went ridiculously large. Too late Luke realized, that he had been just playing with him, he hadn’t seriously expected to get an answer. Fuck.

“ Don’t tell me, you and Cal..”

“ What!?! Of course not. No way! “ The idea was absolutely absurd. “ How did you even come up with this? “

Jack shrugged. “ well, don’t tell me you are living like a monk  with all those pretty omegas throwing at you all the time.” John fixed his eyes on him an Luke to his greatest embarrassment could feel blood rushing to his face.

“ Oh, fuck. You totally are right? “

“ Am not.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest and tried to shoot him his best glare. Thanks god there wasn’t that much of a height difference now.

“ Calm down. Lucas. Its no big deal, you haven’t even presented yet.” Jack reached out and ruffled his hair before Luke could dodge his hand.

He was also pretty much fed up with people assuming they knew what his status would be. For all that it takes, he could already be presented. The beta presentation was actually quite easy to miss, one day you feel weird, like something should happen and than nothing happens, that’s how some people describe it. But other people just don’t notice at all.

“ Maybe I am already presented. Maybe I am a beta.”

John looked a little bit caught of guard by that, then he just shrugged. “ I don’t think so, you would know. “ he said and for a moment he fixed his eyes on him again as if trying to figure something out, then he just shook his head and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry , kiddo, you are an alpha , believe me.”

Luke nodded, but the feeling in his guts was telling him that the brother he once believed to know everything about everything might be wrong about this one.

Few days later they had an interview with Nova. The guys seemed to be in a good mood. Michael and Calum kept rambling about some bar they went to the other day ( after Luke ditched them) and Ashton didn’t even seem to mind because clearly he found some other interests, Michael had excitedly whispered to him there had been a girl involved, but shut up when Ashton came back to the room and shot him a murderous look. Luke was the only one who felt a little bit down, he was ashamed to admit but he felt a bit jealous of how Calum and Michael got on lately, they actually seemed like best pals now. And it was really absurd to be jealous of that now, because thay had always been the best pals, but fuck, Luke felt left out ever since they came back to Sydney, mainly because he spent all his time with his family and now he felt like  he couldn’t even invite Calum over because his parents might hold him in check. He could invite Michael, but things got a little awkward between them,not because what had happened back in New Orleans, Luke had already written it off to a bad day, but because Michael had been shooting him these weird glances for some  time now, like Luke had done something to offend him but the beta had literally no clue what he could have possibly done to make the alpha upset. And then there was Ashton, but the older alpha was always a little bit closed off and kept to himself when they came back home, and now he clearly also had a girl to spend time with, so he had even less time.

Anyway even though Luke was a bit gloomy when he met the other guys for the interview, his mood quickly improved. Being among the guys always made him feel better, like he belonged. Plus their good mood was clearly catchy and the interview turned out to be not half as bad as some others they had gone through.

In the end they were given actual ping pong paddles and they were supposed to play a YES/NO game. The idea was absolutely terrifying but it turned that the questions were quite ridiculous and not very intruding, as they might have feared.

“ Have you gone longer than three days without changing your underwear on tour? “ Luke knew for sure they all had at some point, even though Calum and Michael denied it and turned the paddle on No side.

“ Have you ever been in love? “ the interviewer went on. Now this sounded more ominous.

The only one turned the YES side now was Ashton, Luke wondered who was the lucky one, Ashton was in love “this one time”. It must have been Kyle, the omega Ash had been dating for quite a long time. They broke up sometime around they went on their first big tour over Austarlia. Luke still remembered him coming to see their gigs , he thought he was quite conceited and self centered honestly. Luke didn’t think twice about this one, maybe he had high standards but he thought of falling in love as something so mind blowing, that he surely wouldn’t have missed it, right? From the corner of his eyes he could see Michael hesitating, in the end going for No. What a dirty liar, his crush on Calum was of a size of fucking China. And calling it crush was an understatement.

Other than that the questions were quite simple and funny. The one about smelling your own farts had them rolling with laughter. Luke turned the paddle on the green side, just for the fun of it, and the result was Calum almost peeing himself with laughter next to him. Ashton had tried to explain that he had meant it out of curiosity but hell, Calum insisted that they had to enjoy it, and Luke knew they would have it on their plates at least until Christmas.

The last question made them shut up though. “ Have you seen each other naked? “ Of course they did? How else would they survive on the tour bus. But they got on a thin ice with this one, because of Calums new status.

Luckily the interviewer made the tension dissolve by asking another fucking ridiculous question. “ Have you been impressed by what you ve seen on another band- member. “ Well, of course all of them had at some point, but  no one would really admit it, right? Wait- unless they were Ashton obviously.

“ What the hell , Ash? “

 

Calum was dying with laughter again, His diaphragm in his throat by now. And Michael joined him after trying to resist for a second.

“ well, I haven’t been expecting much.” Ashton tried to explain matter –of-factly. Luke just couldn’t with his band sometimes, but somehow this fucking interview made him all but forget about all other problems. They were just 5sos being their silly selves, omega or no omega. Their statuses didn’t matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, come back for the next chapter and you will find out, why was Micheal mad with Luke.


	8. Sydney II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just read it!

Luke found out pretty soon what was the reason behind Michaels current distant and borderline unfriendly behavior towards him. He was relieved, that it didn’t actually have much to do with him, but the realization that it had a lot do with Calums parents wasn’t very pleasant either. It all started to make sense to him one evening. 

 when the nominations for ARIA were announced, Calums parents decided to do a mini celebration for the band. To the very band members horror, Lukes and Michaels especially,  they decided to invite all of their  parents too. Luckily  in the end the Cliffords couldn’t come because they were out of town for the weekend ( Michael didn’t grieve very hard)  and Lukes parents ( not to Lukes surprise) declined very politely, because they had some very urgent stuff to do,  so it was only Anne Marie , Ashtons mother and  his sisterLauren who turned up.  Against Luke’s protest  his brother Jack  basically invited himself after Luke let it slip in fron of  him, that there was a party.  and also Mali and Tom had flown  from Scotland to spend few weeks in Sydney so the house was crowded in the end. Also Ashton decided to turn up with his new girlfriend,by which kind off made it official that they were together, her name was Anette, she was an omega, pretty, petite, with dark auburn hair, and chocolate eyes, she was still in highschool, sweet 17 years old.

Jack came with Celeste, who swiftly attached himself to Mali and they went to discuss some fashion stuff, which resulted in Jack being on his own and unsupervised. Luke considered it  very dangerous, especially taking into account his unhealthy interest in Calum and his love life.  It wasn’t hard to guess, why was he suddenly so interested in this aprticular friend of Lukes either. The Hemmings didn’t know many omegas, and like Luke Jack laso hadn’t encountered many omegas, even less male ones, so Calum was like an attraction to him. Luke could only hope he won’t ogle him too obviously, at least not with his parents around.

Calum maybe also felt little threatened, because he decide to stick at Lukes side, like he was glued there, being not very keen to go into the crowd and greet and entertain all the other people who came over, skillfully avoiding his own relatives especially. Michael joined them in the corner  after he spend some time with Ashton and Anette, which he promptly nicknamed A plus. Luke had seen him chatting with her very enthusiastically, actually even so eagerly that Luke had gotten suspicions, that he did that either to make Ashton pissed ( in which case he succeeded) or to get collect as much info about her as possible, which was as well likely , because under the punk rock surface, the redhead alpha could be such a gossip girl sometimes.

When Ashton finally managed to draw his girlfriend away from the other alpha, he walked over to them with triumphant look on his face, clearly even forgetting to all about his issue with the beta for the moment. Luke rolled his eyes upon that, but inwardly he rejoiced, because he was glad that Michael stopped ignoring him and also was curious as hell about Ashtons girl too (even though he had  acted as if he didn’t care).

Obviously Calum wasn’t on the same page though, because when Michael came over to them he let out an annoyed sigh and didn’t look even remotely happy to see his friend. To say the truth he hadn’t look happy from the very start of the event and Luke had a suspicion that he could still be sulking because of his parents organizing this party before asking him first. Luke knew he was pretty shy, and didn’t like people intruding on his privacy, he and Ashton had this in common. Luke suddenly felt even more sorry for not preventing jack from coming. He really prayed he would behave and maybe his prayers were answered because Celeste and Mali found Jack in the crowd again and now the three of them were occupied with getting to know Ashtons girlfriend too.

“ So, do you  know where Ashton chanced on such a beauty, so out of his league by the way. “ Michael smirked clearly waiting for them to start inquiring.

“ The safest way to know will be not to ask you about it. “ Calum retorted bitingly, which effectively pulled the rug out from under the alpha.

“ Oh, oh, someone is out of humour  tonight. What happened to you, found a snake in your shoe again? “ he tried to tease him playfully.

Calum made a sour face. “ What? it happened? “ Luke asked trying to hide amusement and failing horribly.

“ Field trip in first grade. “ Michael gave a laugh but shutting his mouth after being shot a very non impressed glare from the omega, who was now standing there with arms folded over his chest not looking even little bit amused.

“ Common, its no big deal. “ Luke poked at him jokingly, but Calum didn’t seem to have the slightest desire to joke tonight.

“ So, what was it about you and Ashtons girl? “ Luke decided to change the topic and successfully caught  the alphas attention. Michaels face brightened immediately as if he suddenly remembered why he came over in the first place.

“ So, she is 17, graduating from Richmond High soon. Pretty good student, straight As and stuff.”  

“ I know that too. Don’t tell me all you found out about her was her grades!”

Michael snorted. “ What do you take me for?  Of course I found out something more interesting about the little pixie. “

“ Yeah?”

“ Obviously her parents know Ashotns parents, and she is pretty talented pianist, so they made Ashton meet her, you know, for him to listen to her and stuff.”

“ Their parents set them up? “ Luke asked disbelievingly.

The guitarist shrugged. “ Maybe they came to conclusion that he is some kind of musical expert, when he is in a band. “

“ on classical music? “ Calum looked even less convinced.

He and Luke looked at each other knowingly. “ They set them up.” they said in unison.

“ But that’s terrible! Poor Ash. “ Luke shuddered when he remembered how his parent had tried to set him up with some girls a few times. Worst memories ever, especially the one time he decided to actually climb out of the window during the dinner to go for a band practice and then he was grounded for a whole month!”

“ Poor Ash? Are you kidding me? Have you seen her ? “ Michaels grabbed the imaginary boobs in front of him. “ I just feel his pain.” He said sarcastically and Ashton glared at him from the other side of the room.

“ I think she saw you. You are an ass, Clifford.” Calum announced while Luke tried to send what he considered an apologetic smile over the room to the blushing girl.

Michaels cheeks grew  red at that too,  the alpha was maybe too late realizing he should have watched his tongue in front of Calum.

“ Anyway. “ he refused to lose his face. “ Shes pretty clever, not very funny though, kinda on the shy side.“

“ Well, Ashton sure has a type. “ Luke commented without thinking.

Calum snorted. “ really? Do you remember Kyle?”

“ Oh, you are right, they were anything but shy.” Luke made a face.

Michel shivered. “ Yeah, I remember, he had his tongue stuck down Ashotns throat half the time I saw him. I dot even remember his face anymore, just the tongue. “

Calum made  a sound like he wanted to vomit.

Just when Michael wanted to turn the conversation back to Anette, they were interrupted by Calums mother calling everybody to the table.

“ You didn’t tell me there will be a big dinner.” Luke complained.

“ really, I thought that’s why your brother came.” Michal snorted and Luke elbowed him in his ribs, while Calum looked like he wanted to run away and maybe emigrate to North Korea just to avoid the dinner. But he saw Mali waving at him and he knew he was fucked.

Luke was for some reason seated between Calum and his dead. He wouldn’t complain that much, but he had  kinda hoped he would sit next his brother to check up on him. But fortunately Jack and Celeste were seated next to Ashton and Anette and seemed quite contented with bothering the unlucky girl for that moment.

Calums dad who was already a bit tipsy, to put it mildly, made a short but deeply felt speech about how he is proud of his son, and the boys altogether. How they made the band great , they achieved so much even though thing weren’t always the easiest. Everyone cheered at them aand everyone seemed to like the speech, even though he still looked profoundly embarrassed. When his dad started talking about how proud he is that his son turned to be such an beautiful and awesome omega, that was when his wife fortunately stopped him and pulled him back to his seat. Calum looked very grateful.

Luke felt grateful too for the wise woman, both for the sake of his friend and for the sake of his band.

The food was great, the wine even too great maybe, because before he even realized it he drank a little bit too much of it and wine always went to his head very quickly. But what could possibly go wrong? What did it matter if he for once let go and get a little bit drunk? Everything was fine, his brother far away enough from Calum and his parents, Calum and Michael talking, Michael even warming up to Luke once again. Everything was great, awesome, ideal even…

“ So Luke , I couldn’t help but notice that you and my son spend quite a lot of time with each other, hn? “ Calums dad turned over to him and raised his right eyebrow suggestingly. At first Luke didn’t even get what he was suggesting, but seeing him wink at him once again it downed at him with sudden terrible clarity.

Next to him , Calum and Michael who was sitting on the other side of Calum, wore the same expression as him.

Luke looked toward Mrs. Hood in hope to be saved again but found her seat to be empty as she had mover herself to Mali and Tom to discuss something  with them.

Luke saw Michael down his glass of wine in one go.

“ Well,..” Luke was looking for words, the alcohol in his system making it not easy for him.

“ Dad, please..” Calum sighed and even drunk Luke could tell from hs tone  this wasn’t the first time this topic was brought up at the Hoods household. He had used his “ don’t start again on this” voice.

“ Common, guys. I was young too and I have eyes .” Mr Hood started again.

“ Oh, dear.” Calum whined.

“ Well, I mean..” Luke Had never wished he was better with words before. But right now, be it the alcohol or total embarrassment and absurdity of the situation, he found himself completely at a loss about what to say.

“ Dad, really, we are friends, FRIENDS. Could you stop embarrassing me? “

“ well, what makes you think I want to embarrass you, just want to let you know, that there would be nothing bad about it if you two, you know... I mean, Luke is basically like a family already. “ he gave a god natured laugh and patted Lukes shoulder.

“ I hope you don’t mind I said it like that, Luke?”

“ No.No, just I am not, we are not-“

“ its all good, no pressure, right? “

Luke barely managed a nod.

Calum gave him a non impressed look and pressed his forehead into his palm in resignation.

Luke having no idea what to do with himself right now downed his drink, while Calums dad raised from his chair, swaying a little bit, and went over to his wife and daughter.

“ Well, looks like your dad wants to set US up. “ he tried to play it for a joke.

Calum shot him “ are you fucking serious look.” “You think?” He said and rose up from the chair. “ thanks for being so fucking helpful by the way .”

With him gone, Luke  could  finally see his other band mate. The alpha was fixedly staring  at his empty wine glass.

“ Wow, what the hell just happened.” Luke tried again.

“ seems like you just found yourself a father in law. Congratulation.”

“ Oh, common. “ Luke was thinking how to save the situation, but Michael was once again giving him the cold shoulder.

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was short I know. But I will make it up to you with the next one! Only I will probably uplouad after christams eve, I wont have any tim to write before that.  
> So Merry Christmas, thanks for all the beautiful comments i had gotten so far. I love them. Thanks for coming back to read my very very imperfect writing and I promise that the next chapter will be fucking amazing and soooo long, that you will need the whole christams holiday to read it!  
> Love you...


	9. Sydney III.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael moping around, Calum hiding a secret, Luke being his dumb self but saving the day in the end... the usual!  
> Oh and wait.... there is a special surprise in the end!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let it be known, that the fictional Ashton in this Fanfic has a fictional sister Lauren, who is 7 years old. ( unlike the real AShtons real sister, who would be 13)

Michael Clifford never considered himself an overly jealous man before he presented.  But he would have also never guessed he would become an alpha either. He used to think about himself as pretty average beta and never gave himself much chances with the ladies, even though from pretty young age he thought very high of them (too bad it wasn’t the other way around).  When he went into his first rut, his world turned upside down.  The first time he found a knot on his dick, he couldn’t  even believe it, and when it settled finally,  he got fucking ecstatic. It was like a dream coming truth. It wasn’t as much of a shock as when the band took off, but it was pretty close. For weeks, he hardly talked about anything else but the alpha stuff,  he kept it on until Ashton gave him short but emphatic talk about how he was being really annoying with it.

With his new status came a new wave of confidence, that took everybody by surprise, even Michael himself, and the world got to know the new Michael Clifford, the self-confident punk rock guitarist, who could make girls wet with one rise of an eyebrow.

Yet Michael himself never felt like he fully grew into his new status. Yes, he was aware that there were tons of girls ( and boys) who probably wanted to become his girlfriend now, but he was convinced, that they only saw the famous icon and they didn’t really care for his real self. After he dated few of them (and hooked up with few others) his confidence significantly grew, but still he never stopped doubting himself. Also, after his new hormones settled a little bit, he felt kinda guilty for using those girls, which was only deepened by the fact that Ashton, who became his closest role-model, rarely ever hooked up with fans, always being the noble chevalier. But Ashton went through his transformation into alpha before all the madness called touring began and he had a chance to experience some normal dating and at least one serious relationship before he became famous. Michael didn’t, he was thrown into the 5sos fame and a year later he was thrown into the alpha/omega business, which was equal part awesome and terrifying.

After the first shock subsided a little, he decided that he wanted to be a good alpha. Like Ben or Dave were. Or even Ashton, not that he would ever admit, that he looked up to him, but he did. But there was always one thing he was afraid of, maybe because he didn’t trust himself that he would deal with it in a good way, and that was being with an omega! Be it a relationship or even  just a hook up, he avoided omegas like a plague. He dated betas, and hooked up with them, and even considered himself pretty successful in this area. Betas but never omegas. He treated their omega fans (and all omegas altogether), with the most respect and awe, but never let himself get too close. (In retrospect, maybe he should have, might have spared himself lot of grief later.)

He dreamed about them though, he dreamed about finding a beautiful omega girl, ideally looking like a character from one of the anime shows, he was watching and asking her out. But deep down he was convinced, that girls like that would prefer an alpha like Ashton or even Luke, because even though the unpresented beta could be a bit dumb sometimes and very likely never got even to the second base with any of the girls,  he had claimed to have fucked, he was pretty much the perfect prototype of an alpha. Blond hair, blue eyes, and don’t let him start on those fucking shoulders. Hemmings was a dream boy of half of 5sos fam, even though in reality he was too much of a pussy ( or a good boy) to ever use it to his advantage. He even used to give Calum more chances to get a pretty omega, even though in his case he would have wagered on him always staying just a beta.

And he was right in a way, Calum hadn’t presented as alpha, but also hadn’t stayed a beta. And that was when the shit hit the fan.

 Calum went into heat, he went into a fucking heat! It was even greater shock for Michael than when he himself presented.  Even half a year later it still sometimes felt unreal to him… Calum in heat, Calum as an omega. They had known each other since forever, they were like brothers, there weren’t many things ( if any at all) which they would not know about each other and yet never once, the alpha would have guessed, that Calum would become an omega.

To be completely honest, they used to joke about it sometimes. They threw it at each other when they were arguing about irrelevant nonsense, saying stuff like “Don’t be such an omega.” or “You are such a princess, I bet you will present as an omega.” But they didn’t mean it, they were pretty confident, that neither of them would ever wake up with a slick coming down their legs. Well to tell the truth, when Michael first found out about omegas it occurred to him that he himself could have presented as one, but it scared the shit out of him and he even prayed that night for not becoming one. Later he decided he liked girls too much to be an omega.

 But Calum? No, he would have never guessed. Even Luke used to seem more likely to draw the omega card. Obviously not now but  back when he was a chubby, awkward and annoyingly polite kid, who was always sticking to the rules, Michael thought he could be an omega. Then he got taller, his shoulders got broader, his fringe longer, and his ego bigger…and him being an omega got out of question, contrarily he became an competition and he really started pissing Michael off. It was the most annoying thing, that the dumbass became a girl magnet and there was some period of time, when he really couldn’t stand him. Later they became kinda friends and then band mates and now he couldn’t stand him just now and then, when he was being unusually dumb or annoying. Well, he actually kinda liked him, but in a rivalry way. Anyway, he still called him a princess sometimes, just to piss him of.

But Calum? There had never been anything particulary omegaish about him, he was one of the few people who ever beat him in FIFa, he was supposed to make in into the representative team in fucking football. Michael  used to think of omega boys as slightly weird and girly, not into sports and manly stuff,  now he realised that maybe it was just a stereotype enrooted in him. Maybe being an omega doesn’t decide your character or things you are into or maybe the omega characteristics are just more subtle than that, like the quality of guitar, you cant tell just from looking at it, how it will play and what it is suited for, you can only assume, you have to actually try the strings and play something to get to know for sure.

He was pretty sure there was something subtly gentle and sweet in Calum, but it was buried deep beneath the surface and he only showed it to his closest friends. Something that he only showed in the right circumstances.

When he smelled Calum for the first time, he lost his head, he never found  himself attracted to guys ( even omega ones) but he changed his mind when he first saw Calums deep dark eyes clouded over with unexpected need, his blown out pupils roving round the room in confusion, the tip of his tongue escaping his mouth to  moisturize the suddenly dry skin on his lips over and over,  his fucked up hair and his expression which looked strangely urgent and seductive at the same time, and the fucking heavenly scent, that in the end made him lose control completely . It seemed like such a great idea to just give into it, give into Calum, who was nothing but shy about it, he seemed like a wild animal, a little tiger, and Michael wanted nothing more than make him satisfied. It seemed like the only sensible thing to do in that moment. Only later it didn’t anymore. When it really came home té him what he really did, and what it meant, he could only thank god, that Ashton came into the hotel room in time to stop him from actually knotting the omega. He wasn’t sure, if Calum would ever forgive him for that.

The first  few days after it happened, his mind was still stupidly stuck to the idea of Calum being his omega and the fact, that he was taken from him, and that the evil people didn’t allow him to claim him and take care of him. But as the time passed, the possessiveness was eaten away by shame and guilt. The image of Ashtons terrified face when walked onto them haunted him for weeks, the picture of Luke’s unbelieving expression, when Ashotn told him what happened, was for some reason even worse. The very worst thing was though, that Calum kinda closed himself of to him afterwards. Even after they were forced to talk, thing weren’t the same as before, he had no idea what was going on in the bassists head, not really. Calum didn’t tell him everything anymore and it hurt.

What hurt even more was that everyone started pretending like it all never happened, Calum seemed happy to forget about it all, but it was driving Michael crazy. Because even though he was ashamed of how he behaved that night in London, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. It was the most amazing, intense and mesmerizing thing that ever happened to him. He had never felt anything like that, and he was convinced, that it wasn’t just about the biology. And it pained him, that Calum wanted nothing else but to forget about it and move on.

And yes, Michael never considered himself a jealous man, but ever since Calum presented, the ugly feeling had been bubbling in him uncontrollably and he found himself jealous of the most stupid things. He was jealous of Ashton, because he dared to talk to Calum and he dared to touch him and even dared to look at him lovingly, but honesty who wouldn’t! To his greatest embarrassment he even caught himself jealous of Ben, when he as much as patted the bassists shoulder, and the alpha had a wife and bunch of kids back in Sydney, who he hardly ever see anymore because he committed his life to the band. He even felt jealous of Luke, and the childish beta was probably the less corrupted 18 years old music idol, in the band life history. He was taking the touring so seriously, that it was really annoying sometimes. Even Ashton seemed like a debauchee compared to Luke. The least  innocent thing Luke could probably think of doing with Calum was a pillow fight and collective prank calling in the middle of the night. And still Michael found himself boiling with jealousy whenever he saw the two of them talking and laughing at some stupid  joke one of them said. His couldn’t stop his brain from analysing every glance Luke threw Calums way and every look the omega shot back. He felt like a total moron for it but couldn’t help it.

And the worst part was, that after some time he actually started to believe there was something suspicious in the way Calum was looking at Luke. He couldn’t even pinpoint what it was, it was more like a shadow of  feeling he got every time Calums eyes stayed fixed on Lukes smile one  second longer than necessary, every time he laughed at the blondes joke with too much joy. He didn’t know if he was getting crazy or if there was something really going on, but either way what he was absolutely sure about was that it wasn’t requited. When he confronted Luke back in New Orleans, the beta didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in Calum , he even assured him, that he still had a chance with Calum, which he doubted, but somehow Luke thought it was possible. He wished it would make his jealousy go away, and for some time it almost did, but then they came back home and things went to shit again.

He had a plan to spend as much time as possible with the kiwi during their short break and to his surprise everything went way better than he had imagined, thing went great even, because Ashton was busy with his new girlfriend and Luke was busy with his moms plans, because Liz was being.. well Liz, and Luke was never one to rebel against his mum. So it left just him and Calum to go out together most of the time. Calum started to open himself up to him again, they had fun like that did before all the madness began, and everything seemed almost like the old times which was all that Michael wanted, well it wasn’t all that he wanted, but it was all he was asking for the time being. But it wouldn’t be Michaels life, if something didn’t go to shit again.

This time the disaster took a form of Calums father. Mr. Hood already didn’t like him very much, well they used to get on just well until Michael fucked up and took away his sons virginity in quite unlucky way, to put it mildly. The alpha was pretty sure that there were a lot of dads in the world who would give him much greater shit for that than Calums one, but it didn’t make the distrust  with which he seemed to look at Michael now sting  any less.

 Anyway as a beta mr Hood would  probably rather see his son with another beta like himself. Or Luke. Even though Luke wouldn’t probably stay beta for a long time now, but who knows, maybe he would, either way Cals dad obviously became number 1 Cake shipper after his son presented and it sucked. What sucked even more was that obviously he had no problem with spreading the word about his hopes for Luke being his son’s future beau. And it  kind of led up to Michael’s current state of depression.

Michael was slightly drunk but not drunk enough to listen to  Mr. Hood heatedly disserting about how Calum and Luke would make such a cute couple, while the latter, being his drunk dumb self (who even gets drunk after three glasses of wine???) was just stupidly trying to be polite or whatever and didn’t even oppose. And that ugly nasty feeling grew inside Michael again and he didn’t like it, he didn’t like being grumpy and upset. He was the cool punk rock guy, the one that had  all fans shout his name at the concerts. He dint like feeling like the bullied 10 years old kid, who got laughed at by his first crush. I mean, who would? He was blaming Hemmings, couldn’t he just say .. I don’t know, that he is pretty much partial to girls, it was truth after all, at least he only ever heard him talking about girls! Or even look at least mildly disgusted, no he had to look like Mr Hood caught them Making out around the corner. What the hell! But the actual person he was mad at wasn’t Luke, it was Calum, even though he was too much of a sucker for him to realize it.  When Mr Hood was talking He got that feeling again, the feeling that the actual reason why Calums hated his father speech wasn’t because he was embarrassed by it but  because he actually  had some unrequited feeling for Luke. And maybe it was all just his fucked up imagination. Either way  he really didn’t want to deal with drunk Luke right know, he got terribly clingy when he was drunk and  he would apologize to him over and over and look like a lost puppy and Michael knew he was being a bad friend but right now he just couldn’t deal with any of that. So he stood up and quickly left the room trough the garden door before any of the guests could stop him.

That left Luke staring at the place, where his friend had been sitting just moments before. But what the hell, if the jerk wanted to be mad at him, it was his problem. It really wasn’t his fault that Calum’s dad took it into his head, that Calum and him were into each other. If the offended alpha wanted to sulk, it was his problem.

 Luke lifted himself up from the chair and swayed a little before regaining control of his legs. Calum was nowhere to be seen, so he assumed the bassist was tucked away in his room and sulking too. How did his band become so emo?  Without much thought he aimed to the only band member left in the room beside himself. It was a learned reflex to find someone from the band in a room full of people. The drummer was currently sitting on a couch in the corner with his beau tucked under his arm, looking relieved that he had finally managed to shake off the older Hemmings.

“ Hi, Ash.” Luke greeted him in what he considered a sober voice.

The drummer eyed him suspiciously. “Jeez, are you drunk already?” 

“Am not!” Luke plopped down on the couch beside him before he realized he should probably introduce himself to Ashton’s girlfriend.

“Hi, I am Luke.” He reached over Ashton to shake a hand with her.

“Anette.” She said in neutral voice and smiled at him. She had very pretty symmetrical face and yes, her cleavage was quite impressive. Luke couldn’t help but stare at it, because it was pretty unusual for such a tiny girl to have such a –

Ashton loudly cleared his voice and Luke immediately blushed at being caught staring at his girlfriend’s chest.

“ Haven’t you seen Calum? “ Luke blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, but it effectively diverted Ashtons attention.

“No.” Ashton sat up. “Did something happen?” he fixed his eyes on Luke’s face.

“ Nooo, just had a bit of run-in with his dad and now he is probably sulking somewhere.“

Ashton grimaced. “Was it about the Cake ship again.”

Anette let out a giggle before she caught herself and smiled apologetically. Luke frowned, did everybody know about it but him?

“ Is it like an open secret or anything?”

Ashton shrugged and took his left arm from behind his girlfriend to take a sip of his drink. “More like an urban legend.” He chuckled. “Cals dad has a big plan for you two.”

“ Hahah, very funny.” Luke rolled his eyes. How come, that the biggest rubbish always catch on the quickest.

“ Come on, it’s no big deal, he will get over it.” Ashton said sounding absolutely sure about that. Luke would like to have his faith in things always working out. At least he wasn’t buying the whole Cake bullshit.

“ Yeah, tell that to Michael, the moron is pissed at me, like I was the one spreading the rumour or something.”

Ashton glowered at that, shaking his head like he wasn’t surprised at all at Michael being the cause of troubles again. “Screw him, he doesn’t have him signed!”

Luke caught Anette watching their little exchange with growing interest and thought, that maybe they shouldn’t have that conversation right now.

Luckily before Ashton could say anymore they were interrupted by Mali who came over to them with a glass of champagne in her hand.

“Have you seen Cal?” she inquired. “Mom has been looking for him for ages and can’t find him anywhere.”

Luke just shook his head thinking that it wasn’t like his friend to ditch his parents like this after all. Besides Michael disappeared too so the two of them could be somewhere together.  He had enough sense no to say THAT to Ashton.

“He might be holed up in his room.” Ashton offered and smiled at the omega.

“He’s not. I was there a minute ago.” She retorted looking disappointed, that the boys couldn’t help her either.

“Well, I haven’t even talked to him since we arrived.” Ashton frowned. “But on the second thought, he was behaving quite strangely.”

“ Strangely how?” Luke asked, but Mali just waved her hand. “I am sure he is somewhere around the house.”

“Probably.” Ashton shrugged.

“If you see him, tell him mom is looking for him.”

“we will.” he nodded, but Luke could see him thinking. Before he could ask him what made him so worked up and why was he thinking the omega was behaving strangely, Lauren scuttled over.

“Ash, they have ping pong table around the back, go play with me.” She begged.

“Not now, Laur.”

“But when?“

“Anette will go with you. Will you?“ he gave her a pleading look.

“Sure, come with me.” She smiled at Ashton’s sister, who gave her bother one last disappointed look. “I will catch up with you.” The drummer promised and smiled at both girls.

“What do you mean, he behaved strangely?” Luke blurted the moment they were gone.

“I mean, that… he was looking around like he really didn’t want to be here and…”

“Yeah, he does like to chill when we have a break from tour. He was probably pretty mad at his folks for lining this up.”

“ Yeah, maybe. But he didn’t seem mad, more like uneasy… or unwell.”

Luke stared at his hands. “Really?”

“I don’t know, maybe you are right and I am just imagining things.”

Luke shrugged and decided to change the topic. “Anyway, you and Anette seem to work quite well.”

Ashton finished his glass. “Yeah, she’s really nice.”

“Nice? Oh, that’s sooo passionate!.” Luke snorted.

“Shut up. Shes awesome and well really hot…like you might have noticed.” Ashton tried to tease back but Luke could see him blushing.

“What?”

“ Nothing, just you seem really into her.”

“ Yeah.” Ashton said and took another drink from his glass.  “ but it wont work out.”

“ Why not? “

“We are leaving on the pre-tour soon.”

“ So what?”

“So, I don’t know, when I see her again.” Ashton sighed.

“Well, we are coming back for the ARIA show.”

“Yeah, and then we are leaving again.”

“Well, if you really want to be together, you will find a way.” Luke tried to console him.

Ashton kept silent. Luke had a feeling that he really didn’t want to expand on that. He wondered if it was because he really liked the girl or because he did not. But it had been enough drama for today  so he rather didn’t press on and changed the topic again.

“Anyway it’s really crazy that we are nominated like in 3 categories for ARIA. I can’t believe we came so far.”

“ Try 4. “ Ashton laughed. “ I can’t believe you don’t even remember what we are nominated for.”

“ I do!” Luke defended. “I just can’t count.”

Ashton giggled. “You are such a dope.”

“ Hey.“ Luke playfully hit him in a shoulder, but he couldn’t keep from giggling, he was still tipsy.

“Anyway, I should find Laur, I still own her the match. And you should find Calum, at least before your brother does.” Ashton finished his drink and stood up.

“ Fuck, I totally forgot about Jack!”

“ Yeah, could you tell me what the hack you told him about Calum, he seems absolutely obsessed with him.”

“I told him nothing, he’s just … obsessed with male omegas in general.” Luke shrugged.

Ashton gave him a disdainful look. “Yeah, alphas usually are.”

“You are an alpha.”

“ Yeah, but I am not a dick.”

“ Hey, my brother is not a dick. He’s just… being a dick about Calum, I guess.” Luke sighed. “Hopefully Celeste already dragged him home.”

“ Hopefully.”

Luke lifted himself up too and for a moment his head spun a little.

“Please, do me a favour and don’t drink anymore today.” Ashton wagged his head.

“ You are the one to talk! What are you drinking anyway? Vodka and tonic?”

“Just tonic, I am driving Laur and mom home tonight.”

“Ooooh!”

“ Shut up!”

“ I haven’t said anything!”

“Go find Calum!”

 

**Meanwhile in the boiler room…**

Calum was comfortably seated  on the washing  machine and taking a slow drag on his cigarette. His right  leg was folded under him and the other had propped up again the opposite wall. Ashton wouldn’t probably be exactly happy if he saw him smoking, but we wasn’t here right now. Actually that was the point,  the boiler room was the only place in the house where the omega was pretty sure  no one would be looking for him and when no one found him, no one would also scold him for smoking.

Calum wasn’t very proud of that either, but right now he needed  nothing more than just have some alone time with himself and relax, also he really needed the nicotine which was currently being absorbed into his blood. He felt the substance relaxing his muscles and also subduing  these slight tremors, which increasingly often overtook his body. He knew what they were, they were the first subtle symptoms of his upcoming heat. He started feeling them yesterday and he had really hoped the excitement and nicotine would postpone the heat at least until tomorrow. But the tension slowly building up in his abdomen and lower back was disagreeing with him.

Damned heat! He really didn’t want to upset his parents, they put a lot of effort into organizing this party and he knew they would cancel it if they found out he was going into heat. Calum sighed, he didn’t want to disappoint them, right, but it wasn’t the only reason. He also wanted to prove something to himself, that being an omega wont determine his life, that he can do anything he wants, just as he did before. Maybe this time he took it too far though.

He was really surprised that no one had noticed what was going on, but then again his mom and Mali were really busy with their host duties and his father was a beta after all ( and a drunk one right now). He tried to avoid Ashton at all cost and made a wise decision to stick to Luke as much as he could. Luke was safe, he couldn’t smell him, because he was also a beta, and he knew he wouldn’t question it if Calum was being a little weird.  They were always being their weird selves around each other, it was the greatest part of their friendship, they didn’t have to pretend to be boringly normal around each other.

 Ouch, another wave of tremors came over him. Calum stretched his back in an attempt to loosen up the stiffness in his lower back. Just as he was moving to make himself comfortable in his previous position he felt the stiffness in his back  thicken and spread  into his abdomen. He could feel a slight dizziness coming over him, that kind that only meant one thing - his heat was officially starting.

Fuck! He shivered as he was suddenly feeling very cold, even though the night was pretty hot. But he knew the feeling was only temporary, it would be soon replaced with utterly opposite feeling of crippling hotness.

If only he could somehow magically transfer to his queen sized bed upstairs without actually having to move. Well, this wasn’t Harry Potter universe, so he will probably have to take the stairs. Calum drew one last hit from his cigarette, put it out and hid the pack and the lighter in the pocket of his hoodie.

The plan was clear and simple, slip unnoticed out of the boiler room, quickly sneak into the first floor and into his room, where he had already stashed some food to survive the night, if he ran into someone after all, dismiss him quickly by telling some story about being tired and blah blah.

As he was summarizing the plan in his head, the omega felt his insides clenching and the first wave of mild need coming over. He was pretty wet by now too, not enough to show but enough to be smelled by averagely perceptive alpha. Dammit, he was used to getting wet, it happened pretty regularly even out of heat, the problem was the omega pheromones were increasingly stronger in heat and more slick meant more smell. It was the high time to  get away. Calum slightly opened the door, just enough to peak outside into the hallway and to his great relief it appeared to be completely empty. He was slowly creeping down the hallway when he overheard music and laughter coming from the lounge. Great! The dancing had started, his mom wanted him to dance with her, but she would have to make do without it. There was no way he could dance in a crowd of people without someone noticing about his heat!

When he was almost at the bottom of the stairs, he stopped in his track abruptly and terrible realization dawned on him, he fucking didn’t stash anything to drink for the night, which was way more important than food by the way, he would survive without his snacks, but he has to drink to remain hydrated. But he has some empty bottles in his room, he could  draw some water into them in the upstairs bathroom. Well, it will have to do.

He quickly ran up the stairs, even though his body was protesting, took the bottles, silently praising himself for being a lazy ass and not throwing away the used bottles, even though it was driving his mom crazy. Afterwards he sneaked into the bathroom and… FUCK! It was occupied!

“Sorry, I should have locked the door!” Jack swiftly zipped up his pants and grinned at the perplexed omega. His eyes slightly reddish and glowing. He clearly also had a drop too much, like his brother, even though he could handle  the alcohol way better than his younger brother, he also had way more to drink tonight, so he ended up obviously drunk!

 “The downstairs bathroom had a long queue before it and I really had to go, so.. I hope you don’t mind I invited myself into hear. “ he slurred, smiling widely at  Calum.

“ No.. it’s … it’s ok-ay.” The omega stammered out, torturing his brain to find a way out of this impossible situation. He could only hope that the alpha would leave without noticing anything. But his hopes were crushed, when he saw Jack examining him curiously.

“Are you okay?”  Jack eyed him suspiciously and moved a little bit closer.

Calum silently cursed his fucking luck, of course he had to run into Lukes brother drunk in a bathroom when he was on the verge of his fucking heat. It could only happen to him!

“ Fine. I am … fine. I think, Luke was looking for you though… so … so you should probably go.” Calum made up nervously in an attempt to distract the alpha.

Jack didn’t seem to notice, he stood there for a moment saying nothing looking over Calum, all the way from his shoes to the top of his head, clearly not even realizing what he was doing. Calum subconsciously pulled the lower edge of his hoodie further down, trying to think of something to do. The best solution would be just leave so he attempted to do just that. He will have to do without the water, this situation was way too dangerous to stay.

“ Ok, I ll just go … have fun. “ His voice sounded surprisingly calm but as he tried to take the first step he realized to his horror that his legs refused to cooperate, he found himself suddenly incredibly weak and unable to move. To make the situation worse, he  caught the unmistakable smell of  alpha, an interested alpha.  A low whine escaped his lips against his will. He tried to remind himself mentally that NO, he wasn’t attracted to Lukes brother, HELL NO, even though he was pretty  hot, BUT NO, he was not, HE WAS NOT… it was just the heat messing with his head. Again!

“Are you sure, you are okay?” Jack inched his way closer to the omega, the alcohol clearly making him lose his inhibitions. His voice sounded hoarse and seductive.. NO, not seductive, Calum reprimanded himself.  Just like he had bad case of sore throat.

Calum was mentally kicking himself, destroying the pack of LMs in his pocket with how hard he was clenching his fist. The empty bottles were forgotten on the bathroom floor.

Jack creeped closer again, now he was very obviously intruding into his  private space. He was higher than Calum but the omega could still feel his breath in his face, his smell grew stronger and by the way the alphas nostrils were slightly moving he could tell he was smelling him too. Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!

“ You are really pretty.“ Jack told him and sounded like he just ran a marathon. Any other day Calum would roll his eyes on that but today he was in heat and in-heat-Calum wasn’t a reasonable Calum, instead he got an absurd idea to just press into the alpha and feel all those hard muscles beneath his T-shirt…. Fuck!

Calum dug his finger nails into his palm, forcing the bits of crushed Tabaco into the wounds. The pain helped him to focus a little bit. It was bad, so incredibly bad! He had to gather  the last bits of his reason and will and  decide what to do! He forced himself to speak.

“ Jack,..”

“Yeah..” the alpha breathed out.

 “Could … could you…”

“ What? “ Jack licked his lips and reached his hand obviously aiming to stroke Calums cheek.

“ Could you… go.. get Luke? “ Jack froze with his hand hovering over Calums face. Obviously hearing the name of younger brother and the desperation in Calums voice made him return into reality. His breathing quickened and his expression turned into a painful grimace.

“ Pl..please! “ Calum whimpered.

Many different emotions showed in the alphas face before his hand clenched into a fist and with one swift movement he crashed it into the tiled wall beside Calums head.

Calum jerked himself in shock and the tile fractured with a loud crack.

Jack swiftly moved away, looking away from Calum, his left hand cowering the half of his face, his mouth and nose.

 

“Yeah, I … sorry.” He stammered.

“ Of course I will find him, hang on inhere… ehmm.. don’t .. don’t go anywhere.“ He shot the omega one last tormented look, turned around and fled the bathroom in a second.

The moment he was gone, Calums legs gave away and  he slid down the wall like a piece of jelly. He was shaking slightly, but thanking the God, that his stupid idea didn’t lead into a disaster,  he was silently hoping that the next one who will find him here will be Luke.

Meanwhile in the lounge…

Ashton was feeling little bad for ditching his sister again, but he decided that he would make it up to her later. This was way more alluring right now, the pretty girl swaying slightly in his arms, while he was turning her in the slow and easy beat of the dance. And trying not to touch her butt too obviously, even though it was a very nice butt. Everything about Anette was nice, so nice, that Ashton even felt guilty for not feeling more for this very nice girl. That didn’t mean he wasn’t attracted to her tough because he was. A lot. The guilt  was only compensated by the fact that he was pretty sure that Anette was feeling the same he did. Unlike his band mates he was actually pretty good at reading people and he took a pride in that. Which also meant that he could tell that the shy and even a little bit cold looking girl  was in fact  very interested in him too, even though not exactly romantically. Ashton found himself contemplating all possibilities. If his mom still wasn’t at the party, he would probably have left some time ago, but he promised her that he would keep an eye on Laur form time to time and then drive them home.  But on the other hand its been so long since he allowed himself to have some fun, so fucking long! (He sighed and found Lauren sitting in a corner, he smiled at her but she was busy talking to some boy her age. He chuckled, at least she wasn’t bored.)

Luke run up the stairs, two steps at a time. Jack didn’t tell him anything but that Calum was in the upstairs bathroom and that he needed him. He refused to tell him what was the matter and even refused to go with him, but he looked fucked up and almost scared. It was so unlike his easy going and straightforward brother, that Luke didn’t know what to think of that, but had a terrible feeling growing in his guts.

He burst into the small bathroom and quickly overlooked the room before he found the omega sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and shaking helplessly.

“ My god, Calum! What happened?!?”

“ I, just don’t … don’t tell anyone!”

“ WHAT HAPPENED? “ the beta kneeled down beside Calum, carefully putting his hand on his shoulder, glad that the omega let him. All his inner alarms went off!

“ Did jack do something to you!!!” he pressed. God, he would kill the fucker if he did, brother or not!

“ No.” Calum breathed out. “ I am… in heat.” he stammered out.

“ Wait.. wait … WHAT?!?”

“ I am in heat!”

“ But… how come it began so quickly? Did Jack try anything on you? “ Luke was very confused now, he didn’t pretend to understand everything about omegas biology, but going into heat so suddenly seemed a bit fishy, maybe Calum mistook it for something else, maybe he was just sick.

“ It didn’t … I … I just didn’t tell anyone, it was stupid!” he spat out, blushing at his stupidity and humiliation.

Luke seemed to think about it, not really getting it.

“ Just… I started feeling the symptoms yesterday? And I didn’t tell anyone.” Calum took a breath. “ And I thought I could make it through today, but I obviously couldn’t, okay? “

“ Oh!” Luke hopefully finally got it. God, he was so slow on the uptake sometimes!

“ Oh, so you didn’t want to tell your parents, because you didn’t want them to cancel the party, because they spent so much time preparing for it and were looking forward to it!” the beta exclaimed as he finally connected the dots.  Calum gulped, well Luke could be really slow, but he definitely wasn’t stupid and he knew him too well!

“ Oh, Cal.” Luke cooed and slowly rubbed his friends back. Calum just whimpered at the contact.

“ I am sorry…. I am so stupid.” He admitted dejectedly.

“ Are not. Do you want me to call your parents? “

“ NO! “ Calum exclaimed with a horrified expression. “ Could you just help me to my room, please? “ The last thing he wanted was his mom seeing him like this.

“ Of course I will help you.” Luke said.

Yet moving Calum up proved to be harder than he anticipated. His legs still felt like a jelly, and the building up need was making him a whiny uncooperating mess.

“ I cant…. Just cant.” He moaned as Luke tried to lift him up.

Luke  had never seen  Calum like this, he looked so helpless and fucked up, he was sweating profoundly and Luke noticed that there was a noticeable wet stain at the back of his jeans. He tried no to blush too obviously.

Not that he would find it very alluring. To Luke the omega looked little bit like a drowned rat with a heatstroke, not sexy at all. He actually chuckled at that thought. It was so ridiculous that someone would find this pitiful mess hot.

Calum gave him a wronged look. “ What? “

“ You look like a drowned rat with a heatstroke.” Luke blurted before he could stop himself.,

Calum gaped at him,but then he let out a short laugh.

“ Fuck you. I would like to see YOU .. in this… situation.”

“ More like a shituation.” Luke had obviously hidden   talent for coming up with terrible jokes at terrible times.

“ Stop it! “ Calum started laughing and slid back on the floor. “I can’t… I can’t laugh, I am hurting.“

“ Stop being such a sissy.” Luke taunted, no t reyll trying to be mean, But he really knew the kiwi too well. He definitely knew that Calums pride will get him on his legs more quickly than anything else, and also that if there was anything that Calum absolutely hated, it was being pitied.

Calum shot him a murderous look. “ You are some friend… I tell you. “ he grumbled but started scrambling up to his legs again, alternately holding onto the wall and Luke.

“ Okay, okay,  just hold on, yeah? “ Luke supported him and the omega leant against him. They were stumbling but eventually they made it to Calums bedroom.

When safely inside, Luke let Calum collapse into his bed and quickly shut the door. The crushed pack of cigarettes slipped from Calums pocket while he falling into the bad and the bassist was very grateful that Luke didn’t comment on it, just picked it up from the floor and stuck it into his back pocket.

Calum groaned. “ Could you bring me some water?”

“ Water?”

“ Or Gatorade.. from the kitchen. I will need it.”

“ Ok, anything else? “ Luke wasn’t sure, if he should leave Calum like this in here. Moments before he couldn’t even stand up.  Shouldn’t he at least help him get changed or something?

“ No thanks, I have some snacks .. in the table.”

“ Are you sure, I shouldn’t get your parents or someone. Maybe Mali?”

“ NO! Pleeease don’t.”

“But, they will be looking for you anyway.”

“ Just… just make something up… tell them I was tired or something.”

“ Okay, I will get the water in a…”

“ CALUM?!?”  the door burst open and Calums sister was standing in the doorway staring in shock at the two guys on the bed. For a minute she was  looking over from one to the other before eventually she turned to Luke with suspicious expression.

“Whats going on. “ she asked sternly.

“He’s in heat. “ Luke blurted out and Calum groaned.

“ Oh my goodness, why haven’t you called me?” she shot Luke a frowned up look and sat down on the bed beside Calum while Luke stood up to make a space for her. She drew aside Calums hair and laid her hand on his forehead.

“You are burning up.“ she said and wagged her head. “You must have seen it coming, what were you thinking.”

“ Mal..” Calum whined.

Luke stuck the pack of LMs deeper into his pocket on reflex as he stood there bashfully looking at the angered sister.

“ What the hell happened, Luke? “  

“ I…”

“ calm down, he just… helped me to the bed. I asked him not to tell anyone.. he wanted to!” the omega explained tiredly.

Malis look grew softer. She looked like she had just realized a mistake. 

“Good.. thanks Luke. But YOU, what  were you thinking. Really Cal! Do you know, what could have happened?“ Luke thought, that he probably should keep the Jack incident to himself.

“ Not now, Mali, pleeease.” The omega pleaded.

Mali sighed and wagged her head again. Then she turned to Luke and with an expression way nicer than before she asked.

 “could you go and find mom and tell her, that Calum was feeling kinda under weather and... so he went to bed.” Luke could hear the omega breath out in relief.

“ Tomorrow we can pretend the tiredness were actually the first symptoms of upcoming heat, and you mistook it for just being tired. Maybe she will believe it, but I don’t know. “

“ Thanks, Mals.” The omega whispered.

“ Lets keep this between us, okay?” she said.

Luke nodded eagerly.

“ and you..” Mali addressed her younger brother. “ you own me. A big time.”

Meanwhile in the garden ….

Michael was walking down the street towards Calums house. At times like these he was really glad that they so far  managed to hide their addresses from the press, because he really didn’t want to deal with some nosy paparazzi right now.

 He had spent some time in the garden after he left the house, but more and more people started having the same idea and the garden became too crowded, so he decided to take a little walk around the neighbourhood. He was roaming the streets aimlessly for a while and before he knew it, he got quite far away from the house. He didn’t have to be worried about someone recognizing him because almost no one was out at this time of night, so he could just walk and enjoy the unusual feeling of total freedom. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually went outside alone like this and he loved it. When he got tired of just walking around, he stopped in a nearby park, lied on a bench there, put his earphones in and listened to a play list he made a while ago.  He kinda lost all  notion of time and when he finally thought of looking at his phone  he realised that it was over midnight and he had a bunch of missed calls from Ashton and Mali. He hurried back, convinced that he will have a lot explanation to do when he comes back, especially he would have to apologize to MRs. Hood for sneaking out of her party. Mr. Hood was probably too drunk to even notice he was gone.  

As he was approaching the house, he noticed that Ashton’s car was parked few meters away from the house, which was strange, because he would have sworn, that they had left it on the driveway. Were they already leaving? He knew Ashton was driving his mom and Lauren home tonight, so he wasn’t even drinking, so maybe he was giving them a lift and then coming back. But in case he wasn’t coming back, he would really like to at least say bye to him and apologize for disappearing for the rest of the night and not answering his phone calls. So he aimed to the car without giving it more profound thought, he should have though, because why would they drive away and than park few meters away?   

 Half way to the car, he heard a girly voice behind him and when he turned around he spotted Lauren, looking at him expectantly. But Lauren was supposed to be in the car, right? Right, so what was she doing here and more importedly who was in the car.

“ Have you seen Ashton? “ Lauren asked.

“ Ehmm, he must be in the …” but Lauren didn’t wait for him to finish as understandment flashed in her eyes.

“ Oh, I see, he’s in the car!” she exclaimed and ran to the car, before mIchael could stop her.

“ ..the house.” He finished for no one, and at the same time he realized he might have made a terrible mistake.

“ Lauren, WAIT!” Michael shouted after her, but she was already reaching for the handle. 

And there are things that younger sisters really shouldn’t see their brothers doing. Michael had a terrible feeling that the poor girl will find her brother in flagranti with a tongue stuck down Anettes mouth, he was wrong, the reality was even worse.

When Lauren jerked the car door open,  .Anette who had been leaning with her back against the car door dropped back when the solid support disappeared. Michael froze up in the middle of a sentence, his mouth hanging open as he was staring in the face of the dismayed girl who was now laying with her head hanging from the car, the straps of her dress pushed down to her shoulders and and her panties somewhere around her knees, Michael couldn’t tell for sure because the lower half of her body was covered by the drummer, whose expression mimicked Anettes perfectly. Michael couldn’t remember that he would ever see Ashton so taken by surprise. He was the master of control. Well, today wasn’t his lucky day obviously, and Michael could even enjoy it , if there wasn’t Ashtons little sister before him staring at her brother with mouth wide open. Even Michael wasn’t that spiteful!

 “Michael. Lau- lauren. “ Ashton finally found his voice as he hastily removed his hand form Anettes groin and the poor girl started desperately trying to pull up her panties.

“ What are you doing here???” Ashton gave Michael a desperate look, pleading for help, band solidarity, man. The guitarist recovered and tried to pull Lauren away from the car, because her staring at her brother trying to zip up his pants without pinching something certainly didn’t help.

“ Come on , Laur. Lets go back…” he tried but the evil little shrimp slipped out of his arms and started running back to the house.

“ Mom!!!” she screeched so loud, that even Michael who was used to some loud screeching jerked away.  The girl had lungs!

  
“ Mom! Ashton and Anette are doing bad things in the car! “ She shouted for the whole street to hear.

 “Fuck , Michael, stop her!”  Ashton shouted and he was hastily trying to get put his t shirt back on while climbing over Anette to get from the car, because the other door  was locked. Why didn’t they lock all of them???

Michael briefly considered if tackling Ashtons sister down in the middle of street and stuffing her mouth with whatever piece of clothes he could get a hold of would be considered as solving the situation or making it worse. But before he could choose Ashton was already out of the car and almost dressed ran after his sister.

Michael turned back to the car, and smiled sheepishly at the unlucky girl. Who was desperately looking for her shoes.

“ Sorry.“ he said, because he didn’t know what else to say and he genuinely felt sorry for the poor girl, whose face reminded him of an over ripe tomato.

She just gave him a broken look and kept looking for the shoes.

Michael aimed back to the house, he wanted to find Ashton and help him to deal with whatever consequences of this tragicomic situation. The band always stand up for each other, right? As he was coming through the door, he saw some gathering in the garden, he thought he recognized Anne Marie, Lauren and maybe Ashton, but before he could change the way he was walking he spotted his other band mate, who honestly looked like a mess too. Luke’s hair seemed fucked up, his shirt was crumpled and he looked like he walked up on Ashton and Anette himself.

“ What’s up? “ he asked.

Luke noticed him just now and it took him a while before he spoke up.

“ Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

“ Whatever it is, I bet I ve got a better one.”

“ No, you don’t!”

“ Try me!”

“Calum went into heat and Jack found him in the bathroom!”

“Ashton was making out with Anette in the car and Lauren caught them… WAIT, WHAT???? “

“ WHAT?!? “

To be continued ….

 


	10. Sydney IV.

At first Michael thought he heard wrong. Calum went into heat? How? When? And Jack? What did Lukes older brother had to do with that?   
“ Did Lauren actually walk onto Ashton making out with Anette? That’s fucked up man.” Luke stared at him with wide eyes.   
“ Forget about them. What happened to Calum?” Michael insisted. His eyes went even wider than Lukes and his voice sounded urgent.   
“ Don’t worry, he’s alright! He…” Luke stopped himself for a second. Was it wise to tell Michael about what happened with Jack? But what exactly happened? Luke didn’t know either, he just knew that Jack found Calum in heat in the bathroom and something definitely threw him off. He could bet there was something more to the whole story, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions.   
“ He what?” Michael pressed on him.   
“ Nothing! Jack just found Calum in a bathroom and Cal told him to get me, and I helped him into…”  
Michael didn’t let him finish. “So he didn’t do anything to him? “ he asked, as if he didn’t want to believe it.   
“ No.” Well, technically Luke didn’t know, but he didn’t want Michael to panic.   
“ Where is he now? “   
“ Well, I guess he went home with Celeste. They probably took a taxi. “   
“ Not Jack, Calum!” Michael asked impatiently.   
“ He is in his room, Mali is with him.”   
“ Good, that’s good.” Luke watched the alpha calm down a little. And he felt a prickle of some nasty feeling in his chest. If he didn’t know better, he would say it was jealousy, but why the hell would he be jealous? He was probably just annoyed that Michael was overreacting upon hearing about Calums heat. But was it really overacting considering the situation? Anyway… what the hell happened with Ashton again?   
“ So how is Laur doing? Is she getting over the shock of seeing her brother with his tongue down Anettes mouth? “  
Michael snorted. “Tongue? Try his fingers down somewhere else. “   
“ You kidding me? Did he really? In a car? No way.”   
“ Close your mouth or you catch flies. At least everyone will stop taking Ashton for such a saint now.” Michael snorted.  
“ Everyone?” Luke felt like he was missing some important part.   
“ Well, Laur kinda managed to shout it out for the whole neighborhood to hear.  
Now Luke looked downright scared.   
“ Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone actually heard except few guests, and her mom probably.”  
“ Now I really feel bad for Ashton.”   
“ Well, Anne Marie is quite cool. I cant imagine my mom in this situation. Or worse.. yours.” Luke went a bit green upon that idea.   
“And they would probably wear a condom, because Ashton is always careful, you know him.”  
“ You mean… they really wanted to…”   
Michael rolled his eyes on him. “ How am I supposed to know? You can ask him yourself , he is right there.” He jerked his head into a direction from which the drummer was coming to them.   
Ashton was a bit red in his face, and was sweating like he just ran a marathon, or drummed through half of their set list.   
Luke embarrassingly found himself blushing too.   
“ Hey, I see you already told Luke.” Ashton shot Michael a look.   
The other alpha just shrugged. “ Everyone else already knows.” Ashton glared at him.   
“ Common it’s not that bad. It can… ehmm … happen to anyone.” Luke tried to make it better but couldn’t help it and let out a chuckle.  
Michael gave him a skeptical look. Luke was one to talk! He highly doubted this would ever happen to Luke, he is too shy to try anything in a fucking car. Unless he was the one being seduced. An absurd image of Luke in Anettes place, with Ashton hovering over him suddenly popped up in his head. Michael mentally shuddered. Where the hell that one came from?   
“ Where is Calum?” the drummer asked.   
“ Well… he is in his room.” Luke retorted, suddenly remembering Ashton talking about how the omega did seem a little weird today. Damn, he should have listened to him!   
“ He went into heat.” Michael threw at Ashton, fixing his eyes at him. The other alpha paled a little.   
“ Is he alright?” he asked immediately.   
“Yeah, Mali is with him.” Luke assured him.   
“I knew there was something going on.”   
Michael snorted. Probably just feeling pissed, that he himself hadn’t noticed anything.   
Ashton didn’t even pay attention to him, because he was deep in his thoughts.   
“ He must have known for some time. The last time he knew the day before it happened. Why didn’t he tell us? “ He voiced the question that so far didn’t occur to either Michael or Luke.   
They both looked at each other.   
“ He didn’t want his parents to worry.” Luke offered. “ Or cancel the party.”   
“ I get that, but why he didn’t tell US? I mean we are his band, his family and we wouldn’t force him to leave or something, we would stick with whatever he decided was best, right? “ Ashton looked at them.   
Michael seemed really uncomfortable. “ Of course. I mean if it got really bad or something, we would, but otherwise..” he stammered out.   
Ashton sighed. “We should talk to him when he gets better. “   
Michael eyed him with an unreadable expression and just nodded without saying anything else.   
Luke didn’t say anything either, to him, it kinda made sense that Calum didn’t want to talk about his upcoming heat with the alphas. It was pretty awkward stuff to talk about with alphas, bandmates or not. But he didn’t want to argue anymore tonight, so he just nodded. Maybe they were right, they should be able to trust each other even with this embarrassing stuff, they were closer than a family.   
When Luke came back home that night, less drunk but more tired than he had hoped to be, he ran into his brother in the living room. Jack had still that kinda haunted look in his face and looked at Luke a bit sheepishly, which immediately reminded Luke of the bathroom incident.  
“ Is Calum alright?” Jack asked him in a small voice.   
Luke eyed him with a growing suspicion. “Why do you ask? Did something happen, that I don’t know about?”   
“ Well.. I… kind off..”  
Now Luke was more than a little worried. “ Don’t tell me, you did something to him? “ Luke was getting really disturbed now, he had really hoped that the whole situation was only terrible for the mutual embarrassment which both Calum and Jack had to endure when they run into each other while the omega was clearly going into heat. He sure as fuck didnt want to imagine that something worse happened. Jack surely wouldn’t harass Luks best friend, omega or not. He could be a bit rude sometimes and painfully straightforward, but he wouldn’t actually make a move on an omega in heat, right?   
Then again, Luke also wouldn’t have guessed that Michael would fuck Calum on his first heat, but he did, so maybe Luke had been underestimating the power omegas in heat had over alphas. Fuck!  
“ What happened? “ he asked his older brother, who was sitting on the edge of the sofa, nervously scratching the top of his head.   
Luke sat down next to him and waited, already afraid to hear the answer.  
“He… he just smelled so good.” O god! “ Did he not tell you anything? “   
“ No, he didn’t! You TELL me. “ Luke was losing his nerves.   
“ Did you ...ehmm…. touch him or anything?” he whispered because it felt too wrong to say it aloud.   
“ No! Of course not. I didn’t, I swear. Just it was so weird… I like really wanted too, I kinda lost control.”   
Luke gulped. His brother lost control, really?   
“ I know it’s wrong, but I really really wanted to just.. “ Jack snapped his fingers and paused.   
“ But you didn’t ? “ Luke asked carefully, but with a hint of hope creeping into his voice.   
“ No, no, didn’t.” John let out a nervous laugh. “ Calum told me to go get you, and it was like I woke up and realized what was going on.”  
Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.   
“ Fuck, I was really worried, that something actually happened, like you tried to kiss him or something like that.” Luke purposely said kiss instead of anything else that his brother could have tried to do, because.. yuck, he didn’t even want to think about it, let alone speak about it.  
Jack put his face into his hands. “I didn’t know that omegas in heat were so dangerous. I mean, I ve heard some stories, but never really smelled any, well I did, but not like directly next to me. Could you tell Calum, Im sorry, I will apologize to him , but I don’t when I see him again. “  
“ Yeah. But… are you sure that you didn’t hurt him or anything… you are apologizing a lot for just thinking about touching him.”   
“ I … I may have moved a little bit too close to him? Like .. I think I scared him a little?”  
Luke rolled his eyes. Great! Not only were his parents kinda rasist when it came to omegas, but now apparently his brother was scaring Calum too. His family, really!  
“ I should kick your ass.” He said solemnly.   
“ I would did it myself if I could.” Jack rubbed his temples. “ I am never drinking again.” He said seriously.   
Luke snorted.” Even you don’t believe that.”  
“ Nah, probably not. But I am definitely never drinking when male omegas are around.”  
“ Why just male ones? “  
“ Because they smell stronger, at least Calum does, I mean the others I have smelled didn’t make me lose it like that.   
“ Yeah, but you said it yourself, they weren’t so close.” Luke argued.   
Jack just shrugged a looked really ashamed. “ Don’t look too much into it, omegas just affect alphas like that I guess, I mean take Michael… he is Calums best friend and He couldn’t stop himself from fucking him when he first ..oh shit!”   
Luke put his hand over his mouth and gaped at his brother who was staring right back at him.  
“ He did WHAt? “  
“ You didn’t hear anything!”   
“ Calum and Michael had sex.. together ? On his first heat??? “   
“ Forget I said anything, I… fuck! Promise me, you wont tell Calum you know. “ Luke pleaded desperately. He didn’t want to grass on his friends like that, he just wanted to make his brother feel better and forget , that he didn’t know about what happened between the two of them.   
“ I wont… but did they really fuck?”  
“ Yeah, they did, now stop talking about that and like… pretend you never heard anything. Please?” Luke wanted to bite of his fucking treacherous tongue.   
Jack made a promise not to ever mention that again, but one never knew, he was even worse at the whole keeping secrets stuff than Luke and if Luke could ever bet on something in his life, it would be that every secret that he had ever tried to keep would come back and bite him into his ass.   
When Luke finally got into his bed, he lied there for a while contemplating if he should at leats undress before falling asleep. It was one fucking exhausting evening. Finally he decided to at least pull of his jeans, when he was doing that, he found a crushed pack of cigarettes in his back pocket and sighed. Another secret he was supposed to keep. He was really starting to lose a track of them. Somehow he had a feeling, it wouldn’t end up well!   
Few days into Calums heat Michael dropped by and because Luke was home alone, and the day was nice, not too hot and not too cold, they sat together in the garden, drinking beer. Luke couldn’t remember the last time the two of them spent some time together like that, without the rhythmical part of the band being around somewhere. They talked about the upcoming tour, about going into Japan, which the alpha was ecstatic about, which kind of make Luke smile and want to tease him about it a little. But nothing could spoil Michaels enthusiasm when it came to Japan, he was like a little kid whose Christmas came early. He was basically a ball of joy and Luke couldn’t stop at him smiling widely when he was talking about what he would do on Akihabara etc. He was lucky that Michael didn’t really pay to attention to him, because he was pretty sure, his staring was getting a little on the creep side. But he didn’t want to stop. He felt good with Michael, even though they were arguing and attacking each other playfully all the time, he felt safe and comfortable spending time with the alpha. It was different from spending time with Calum too, he was more on edge when he was with Michael, always waiting for the alpha to challenge him in a way. They were taunting and teasing each other all the time, be it face to face or on twitter, but it always left Luke more happy than mad. No one else could make a fun of him like that and get out with it without Luke getting mad. Not even Calum and Ashton.   
Luke didn’t know why, but he caught himself actually being glad, that the omega went into heat, because now Michael and him “had to” spend time with just each other. Ashton was obviously busy with making it up to his mom and girlfriend.  
“ Anyway, have you heard about Ashton?” Michael let out a sly giggle.  
“ What again? He didn’t get Anette pregnant this time, did he? Please tell me, were are not having sixth member of the band on a way? “ Luke faked being frightened.   
“Well, when you talk about it…” Luke immediately became serious.   
Michael dissolved into laughter. “ Omg, you are so easy! Of course I am kidding.” He couldn’t stop laughing and Luke blushed upon falling for the bait again.   
“ Don’t joke about things like that.” He complained.  
Michael mimicked what was supposed to be Lukes whiny face a Luke was a second from splashing his beer at him. But it would be a waste , right?  
“ So what is happening with Ashton again? “ he asked.  
“ He and Anette broke up.”   
“ really?” it was not like Michael to make fun of something like that.  
“ But I don’t think he is heartbroken very much. He wasn’t that much into her obviously.” Michael smirked. “ the funny part is how it came over.”   
Luke looked at him expectantly while Michael kept chuckling.  
“ Obviously Anettes parents somehow found out about the car incident..”  
“ NO way! How? ”   
“ I have no idea, but they weren’t happy.” Michael apparently found it way more funny than he probably should have.   
“ And they – I am quoting_ said “ that they don’t wish for their daughter to see some licentious musician with questionable morals. End of quotation.”   
Luke really didn’t want to laugh at his best friend but.. like … “ Did they really say licentious, really? Who even says that??? “ he was fighting the laughter and failing miserably.   
“ Yeah… Ashton the big profligate.”  
Luke burst out the beer he was just drinking.   
“ Stop it… ha , ha .”   
“ Ashton… the virgins corrupter!”   
Luke was laughing so hard that he couldn’t even sit properly anymore.  
“ Ashton the licentious rock star! The Big Bad Drummer! The ”   
Luke was literally rolling with laughter.   
“ Ashton the lady –killer! The “ lock your daughters in “ Ashton!”   
“ st-op it!” Luke couldn’t even speak anymore. They were both laughing so hard!   
“We are so not telling .. ha ha… Ashton about this!”   
“ Ashton who? Oh, you mean the licentious musician!” Michael mocked.   
Luke went into another fit of laughter. Michael was right, he was so easy, when it came to his stupid jokes!   
“ Okay, okay.. “ Luke tried to catch his breath again.   
“ You know what, Hemmings?” Michael stopped laughing and suddenly looked pretty contemplative.   
“ What? “   
“ We are such a bunch of loosers, really!”  
“ No we are an evil punk band!” Luke giggled.  
“ Oh, common! You are giggling like a girl and when you want to drink a beer with your friend in the garden, you wait until your mum is not home.”  
“ hey!!!”   
“ Calum is a fucking omega, going into heat on his own party, when Ashton finally manages to pull a girl, his sister walks in on him! I am.. well I raise the standards a little bit…”  
“ no, you dont!”   
“ Ok, I dont, I am just as tragic as the rest of you! But the point is.. we are sooo fucking lame!!! Just look at us! We should do something really bad, like punk rock bad!”   
Luke laughed again. “Like what???”   
“We have to think of something…”   
“ We could … hmm… not really dress up for the ARIA show, like wear band t-shirts and stuff!”  
“ Oh Lukey, that so soooo … cute!”

“ Am not!”   
“ I didn’t say YOU are cute.” Luke blushed at that.  
“ But of course you are cute, princess.” Luke get even redder at that.  
“ Sooo cute.” Michael cooed mockingly.   
“ I hate you!” Luke frowned.   
“ No you don’t.” the redhead sneaked closer to him, and playfully stabbed his finger into Luke’s puffed cheeks.  
The vocalist felt the corners of his mouth twitch against his will.  
Michael smiled at him and then without invitation laid his head into Lukes lap. How typical! But somehow Luke couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at the alpha. It was weird, considering their rivalry relationships, but he had him kinda wrapped around his finger.   
Luke almost regretted that Calum heat was already over. He kinda enjoyed being Michaels only company, but refused to dwell on it too much. I t was already pretty awkward that some fans apparently thought, that there was something going on between him and Michael, well it wasn’t so bad like the Cake idea, because it was obvious rubbish, like they were both alphas, or future alpha in Lukes case, so it was nonsense, right? Anyway, considering the attention their fans were giving to Muke, he shouldnt really add fuel to the fire, so he kept his thought to himself.   
Ashton still acted a little weird around them, his deflated ego apparently still recovering from the humiliating experience.   
Luke was really looking forward to telling the story to Calum, who was kinda the only one, who hadn’t heard about it and wasn’t disappointed when he did. Calum almost pissed himself laughing when Luke was as accurately as possible describing the whole scenario. Ashton didn’t by far find it that amusing, especially when instead of a serious talk he planned on having with Calum, the first time Calum joined them on a practice, the omega winked at him and said   
“ A car, huh? “ and laughed wickedly. Everyone joined him except Ashton.  
Ashton was a bit sulking after that, deliberately picking up speed of his drumming to throw them off, until Luke could barely breathe at how he was trying to keep his singing up with the devious rhythm. The message was clear- don’t piss off the drummer!   
In the end they managed to talk to Calum too, even though the omega tried his best to avoid it. Luke didn’t tell anyone about the cigarettes, but they still gave the omega a bit of a hard time for not trusting them and not telling them about the heat. The omega promised to talk to them next time and they promised him (Michael a bit reluctantly) not to limit him because of his status.   
Calum later ( when they were alone) asked Luke if he could keep to himself what happened with Jack before Luke found him. Luke agreed to keep silent about it without any protest, he didn’t want the guys to mad at his brother either. But it didn’t keep him from worrying about it, if Calums smell in heat was so strong that it was affecting the alphas much, who knows, what could happen should the situation be repeated in the future? He only hoped, that the omega would keep his promise, and talk to them about this stuff, no matter how awkward it would be, for the sake of everyone’s safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time - 5sos in Japan!!!


	11. Tokyo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, lets see, there is Michael in Nirvana shirt making Lukes dreams a liitel bit more interestning, and then there is Tokyo and one very interesting bet. Not my best chapter, beacuse I am coming down with something and dont feel so well, but I hope you will like it! :) Bye, LM.

The Aria Awards show was amazing, and they won, they actually got the Award for the song of the year. When Delta Goodrem said The Song Of the Year is “5SOS for She looks so Perfect”, Luke felt like his heart almost stopped, he couldn’t believe that they beat a fucking Sia in this. Michael next to him actually jumped from his seat, being almost ridiculously happy. Luke was the last one to stand up, it still hadn’t clicked with him that they had actually won and that they were about to go onto the stage to receive the award. Before he could pull himself together, Ashton was hugging him and Michael was already on the stage, his red hair and white T-shirt shining in the mass of dark blazers and boring black button-ups. Boring like the one Luke was wearing.

Luke was still  more than a little bit narked at him for not dressing up properly and going in a fucking T-shirt. Because damn, it had been Lukes idea to do that to be a bit more rebellious and punk rock, and the guitarist had laughed at him, if Luke remembered well. So Luke actually did pick up something more fancy ( and boring)  and then he saw the alpha standing in the doorway, smirking at the beta mockingly clearly being very happy with himself.

“ Bitch !” Luke muttered under his breath, and Michaels Cheshire cat grin got even wider. 

Anyway, the moment their name left the presenters mouth along with “ song of the year”, everything else flew out of the window. Because who the hell cared how Michael was dressed anymore? They have won, they had fucking won, and they were about to put on a wonderful show! For all their parents ( and friends and other relatives) to see. Finally!   It was an awesome night, and for once Luke went to bed  feeling like he had accomplished something great! As he was falling asleep an image of Michael in that fucking Metallica shirt crept into him mind and he thought if he will ever look and feel so good and confident. Maybe after he presents as alpha!

And it was also the first night, that he had THAT dream, that fucking ridiculous dream, which would over the few next years come back over anf over again, usually in the least appropriate times, and Luke  would only decipher its actual meaning years later, when he would get to know himself better. It would repeat itself in various settings and modifications, but the core would stay the same.

That night the dream began kind of gloomy, it took place somewhere in the future in some strange dreamy version of Sydney, Ashton and Calum were kidnapped and taken to a small camp near a lake, where they were supposed to be brainwashed into some kind of perfect soldiers or something.  Luke and Michael were the only ones left from the former 5SOS and made it their mission to find their friends and bring them back. They somehow learnt about the camp stuff and thought of plan, well Michael thought of a plan and Luke (still a little bit anxious as for if it would work out) agreed to go with it.

 They enrolled themselves in the sort of pre-training program which had to be passed before they were allowed to join the main super soldier program. The dream was simply ridiculous like that, but to a dream-Luke it all seemed very real a made a weird kind of sense. When they were being taken to the special training spot, they mixed their papers with some other boys and were ushered to the lake camp instead. They were accommodated in little wooden cabins and after light out they both crept out to make a plot about how to find Ashton and Calum.

As they were talking Luke started to feel a little weird, alternately hot and cold, and started shivering. When Michael asked him what was the matter, Luke tried to explain and Michel took him into his arms and he was still wearing that fucking Metallica  shirt, and felt so warm, strangely soft and solid at the same time. Luke couldn’t help but melt into him and and burry his face into the crook of his neck. Embarrassingly he could feel himself getting hard from just the smell of the alpha and tried to push himself away so that Michael couldn’t feel his humiliating hard on being pressed into his thigh. But the alpha pinned him to the side of the cabin, rubbing his kneed against Lukes groin, chuckling into the betas Neck.  While Luke was looking for some lame excuse , Michael started whispering to his ear, that it was OK,  that he felt the same way, that he would take care of him, and he pulled away a little only to start  running his fingertips over Luke’s belly, the calluses on his fingers driving Luke crazy, Michael smirked again and pressed himself against Luke. The vocalist let out a an embarrassing moan as he felt the obvious hardness pressing into his hipbone … and he didn’t remember ever feeling so turned on!

Fuck! Luke woke up with a jerk and blinked into the sun creeping in through the blinds! It was a fucking noon and he was supposed to be somewhere today and he couldn’t remember where! Fuck, band meeting! They had fucking band meeting, and oh, no… the dream popped up in his head! What the hell was that fucking dream about?

He couldn’t look the red head alpha in the eye all day, he was convinced that one look would give away all that was on his mind.. And all that was on his mind was that fucking dream, no matter how hard he tried to focus on the reality, his consciousness kept wondering away  back to the dream, or should he say a nightmare?   Back to the camp, back to Michaels fucking hands under his t shirt slipping closer to his waistband. Fuck!

Michael luckily didn’t notice anything, because the alpha had the sensitivity of a rock, and honestly too hangover to function properly after last night celebrations. But Ashton, being his Yoda self, of course started suspecting there was something wrong with the youngest member of the band and took the first occasion to ask him about it. Luke made up some shit, he didn’t even remember what he blame it on,  but more importedly  Ashton seemed appeased for the time being.  

They were touring again. Thanks god for that, at least Luke had less time for thinking about stupid things and stupid dreams. He hardly ever dreamt about anything on tour, he was usually so tired that he dropped off as soon as he hit the pillow and woke up after what sometimes felt like 30 minutes of sleep immediately being kicked out of the bunk to go and do stuff. Touring was awesome, but tiring as hell!

In February they were flying to Japan, and they were fucking ecstatic about that, last time  they missed it, because Ashton was sick, so this time  they planned on enjoying it to the fullest. The most enthusiastic were Calum and of course Michael, for Luke and Ashton it wasn’t so much of a big deal, but they were excited to go anyway.

Luke was little bit more reserved throughout the visit, partly nervous about the foreign environment, and partly occupied with what was going on with his own fucking body. He felt himself changing and he knew the guys noticed too, making jokes like “Luke is finally going through puberty”. Luke rolled his eyes at them, by secretly he was on tenterhooks too, he had noticed (as he had to throw few more t shirts away) that his shoulders got wilder again, his voice got deeper and he had to shave more often now.

Ashton kept giving him those looks, and Luke could just tell that he was keeping an eye on him, probably in case he went into an unexpected rut and was around Calum or the fans at that time. Clearly he didn’t want to risk anything after what happened with Calum and Michael.

 Even though Luke could tell where all this was coming from , For some reason it really bothered it and he wished the alpha stopped doing that. He also wished everyone would just stop expecting him to become an alpha, because he himself wanted to be anything but that. Except an omega. Well, there weren’t many more options, okay, so lets simply say that really wanted to be a beta!

 Calum on the other hand seemed somehow suspicious but dealt with iz in his own way  and by that O mean that he   kept telling stupid jokes about Lukes upcoming presentation and tease him about it one very occasion he could,  which was really starting to get on Lukes nerves. He almost began regretting covering him with the cigarettes and the Jack incident, because if the lame jokes were what he would get for his effort, it was so unfair!

At least Michael wasn’t paying much attention to him, he was too busy, admiring every single fucking thing in Japan, he was so excited about everything, that Luke was actually glad that he didn’t start licking up the walls of the Japanese studio. He was also more than busy bonding with their Japanese fans, talking for hours about One girl in Pikachu costume. BUtt on the bright sideat least he stopped being all emo about Calum for a while. Another good thing was, that he actually dyed his hair again and the red was gone for the time being, because at least Luke could pretend that that fucking dream was about some other Michael , some red head Michael who belonged to the past and had nothing to do with the current blue haired Michael, who was running around acting like a little kiddie every time he saw someone cosplaying his favourite anime character and definitely wasn’t  trying to sneak his hand into Lukes pants round the back of wooden cabin. Because like it would never happen , right? Luke wasn’t into guys, definitely not into alpha guys and majorly, massively definitely not into Michael! Period! And Michael wasn’t into him! He refused to even think about that possibility!

In the meanwhile the blue haired Michael was behaving a like a fucking kid, jumping around with a stuffed Pikachu, total embarrassment.  Luke wagged his head every time he had to remind himself, that he was actually an alpha. Who cared if in some moment of unexplainable insanity he dreamed about making out with the alpha, it was just weird figment of his imagination  or something like that.  It definitely wasn’t anyones business, and also no one would ever now. That was it, problem solved!

The show was super awesome. The crowd was really intense and Luke enjoyed it 100 percent even though in the very beginning he felt little pressured from the vast amount of expectations their Japanese fans were putting on them. But to his great relieve the show went really great and he felt as like they made it to another milestone! A dream coming true! When it was over, they gathered in the dressing room being exhausted but in the best way possible.

Ashton being the always worried daddy of the group was bitching about some sugar content) of something Calum wanted to drink,  it was probably more for the sake of making fun of the omega but Calum refused  to budge. He was in too good mood to argue with Ashton, but he finished the drink before Ashton could snatch the cup away. Luke couldn’t resist to have a little revenge for all the teasing and  join on the – lets annoy Calum – plan and knocked down his cup, promptly running away.  Calum upon seeing he won’t catch up with the beta, just shook his head.

“ Hes behaving like a little kiddie, but you know, at the end of the day, you can just  he is an  alpha!” he said to the closest camera.

Ashton snorted behind him, giving him a very unconvinced look.

“What?” Calum laughed.

“ You don’t know that !” he crossed his arms over his chest and gave the omega challenging look.

Calum turned to the drummer, waiting for clarification.

“ I would say… he is more likely to stay a beta.” Ashton stood his ground.

“ Are you serious? “ the omega snorted. “ You really genuinely think, that he would become anything else but alpha?“

“ Yup! “ Ashton said. “ I would wager, he would stay beta. “

Calum furrowed his eyebrows.” No way, man. Have you seen him lately? The alphaishness is just radiating from his whole .. I don’t know.”

“ Nope, a say he beta, he doesn’t have it in him! And alphaishness is not a word.”

Calum rolled his eyes  and eyed  Ashton with an idea suddenly  flickering in his eyes. “ Do you mean it? “

“ Of course.”

“ Do you really, Really, stand by it? “

“ Yeah, wanna make a bet? “ Ashton rose his eyebrows at the still hesitating bassist.

“ Hell, yeah! But, you are gonna lose this one , because its fucking obvious you are so wrong.”

“ Lets see about that.” The drummer hummed. As they were about to shake each other hands on that. Michael walked in, wide smile hovering on is lips.

“ What s up guys? “ he eyed them suspiciously.” Oh, Are you betting on something?”  he suddenly sounded way more interested.

“ We are betting on Luke? Kinda.” Calum explained “ isn’t he here somewhere. He shouldn’t probably know.”

“ No, he went to the bathroom.” Michael told them still confused about what was the bet about but looking way more interested now.

“ Well, I think that Luke would present as an alpha, while Ashton here claims that he would stay a beta. Hes gonna loose a big time.”

Michael looked from one to the other.” Are you really betting on that? Don’t you think it’s a bit.. I don’t know… just wrong?”

“ What? You wanna in?” Ashton smirked.

Michael seemed to think about it. “What’s the bet anyway?”

“We actually haven’t decided yet.” Calum realized.

“ 500 bucks?” Ashton offered.

“ That’s lame, I say whoever loses has to say do soemthing embarrassing during next show.“  Calum could almost see the wheels in the guitarists head as he was trying to come up with something as embarrassing as possible.

“ What about playing in the underwear? “ Ashton suggested. And wow, Michael really wouldn’t expected something like that from the always decent Ashton. Well, he had learnt a lot about his band mate lately!

“ The whole show? “ calum looked appalled.

“ I don’t know, lets say, just one song. She looks so perfect!” ashton exclaimed.

“ No way, Iam not playing in my underwear.”

“ Ah, not so confident about Luke being alpha anymore? “ Ashton smirked.

“ You ve got it easy, no one will even notice if you undress behind the drums.”

“ Ok, if you are afraid. Lets call it off.”

Calum seemed to think about it again, but eventually caved in. “ Ok, but only on one condition. Michael joins in. Choose a side, Clifford.”

Michael looked really surprised, than looked at the omega searchingly and smiled.

“ Ok, I will go for omega.”

“ What? “

“ I will go for omega. I say, Luke will present as an omega!” He smirked slyly.

“ You cant be serious. “

“ Its the only thing no one had bet on, and well, you never now, he is kinda a little bitch sometimes. No offence,Cal.”

“ offence TAKEN” calum snapped at him but luckily was too excited about the bet to make a scene.

“ So, that’s it? You wont change your mind.” Ashton inquired.

“ No.”

“ Well then, looks like we have a bet!”

“ they all shook their hands to seal the bet.”

“ Tell me Michael, are you that anxious to show off your package in front of the whole stadium?” Ashton taunted him.

“ You exposed me.”

“ That’s not fair, if you in fact want to lose.” Calum complained.

“ too late.” Michael smirked again.

“ Too late for what?” Lukes voices sounded from the doorway, as the beta entered the dressing room. Looking puzzled at the small huddle in the middle of the room.

“ What are you up to?” He watched them suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing, Luke. Just saying it is pretty late, we should pack it up and move to the hotel. I am ( yawn ) soo tired.” Michael promptly made up, Luke not beliving him for a second. He just KNEW they were cooking something! If only he knew what!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! If you did, please, leave a comment. Or just write what you didnt like. Or what would you like me to add into the story. I have plenty ideas of my own, but I am writing it for you, so I am open to ideas you may come up with. Love you, LM :)


	12. Madrid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit from Calums perspective... and Some Cashton... because you asked for this! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you havent seen the movie REC, you can watch it .... the episode will make more sense to you. But its not necessary and I dont recommend if you are easily scared! :D   
> Please leave some comments again... they keep me going !!!!

Despite everyone expecting Luke going into rut in a next month, nothing like that happened. In May they were supposed to start the Rocks Out with Your Socks Out tour and Luke still hadn’t presented. Since the guys had been too busy getting themselves ( and everything else) ready for the tour, there hadn’t been much space for discussion about Lukes status and the unlucky bet. Naturally they hadn’t said anything to Luke, even though Michael once almost blurted out something about an “underwear show” but then played it out as a stupid joke and Luke didn’t pry into it.

Also apart from the tour troubles they found themselves quite busy with “socializing”. Both Ashton and Luke got girlfriends, and since Luke wasn’t showing any signs of presenting any time soon, the matter was put on the back burner. The only one who  was still losing sleep trying to wrap his head around Lukes status was his closest friend and the only omega in the band, Calum. At first he had been soo sure about Lukes status, that it hardly occurred to him, that he might be wrong. Now, as the time went he wasn’t so sure anymore. Luke seemed really comfortable in his beta shoes,  enjoying his new relationship with Arzaylea ( also a beta) and showed no signs of being drawn to omegas, or anything of the alpha/omega culture.

Statistically speaking the betas were the most common breed and also they most often dated each other, alpha/beta relationships were pretty common too, hence great deal of women were betas,  so the alpha/beta were at least as frequent  as the alpha/ omega ones , maybe even more so, because omegas were quite rare. On the other hand beta/omega relationships simply weren’t that common. Not that they would be impossible to find, but betas usually just tend to stick with each other or alphas (especially the female ones) instead of getting on the thin ice of dating someone with slightly different anatomy and therefor some special needs, that they might not be able to satisfy!

It wasn’t impossible though, Calum didn’t have to go far to find a satisfied lifelong couple who made the whole beta-omega thing work! His parents might as well be put on a poster for promoting this mixed relationship, but even though Calum grew up in this environment, he couldn’t shake of the idea of Alpha/ omega couple being more perfect and desirable one.

Nevertheless when it came to Luke, he would very well make an exception. But the beta didn’t seem to be interested in interacting with omegas in that way. He also didn’t seem to be very concerned with the fact,  that he hadn’t presented yet. When asked about it, he just shrugged and pointed out that he still had some time ahead in which it was pretty normal for alphas, who generally presented later than omegas to go through the change. But Calum got a feeling, that he had accepted himself as a beta long time ago and simply wanted to get everyone of his back without having to admit it.

Calum would be okay with it, really he would, if it wasn’t for few facts. First… there was the bet. The fucking bet, which he started to believe he might actually lose. And even though he managed to make Michael involved too, so he wouldn’t be the only one making a total fool of himself while also being borderline inappropriate in front of whole lot of their fans, he was still trying not to imagine the headlines that would follow the concert, in which he would have to THAT! He was pretty sure, that Ashton would let go of the bet, if he asked him to, but he didn’t care for favours. He didn’t want to be treated like some fragile omega. He took pride in never ever backing away from a bet so far, and he didn’t want to change it!

He had worked hard to prove himself completely capable of taking care of himself and he didn’t want to be babied again. He would rather swallow his pride and go up on stage half naked, even if the whole world was judged him for that.

The bet aside, the second problem, which came with Luke possibly staying beta was his girlfriend. Calum just couldn’t bring himself to warm up to her. She didn’t do anything to him and technically there was nothing wrong with her , Calum just didn’t get the right vibes from her or whatever. To be completely honest Calum wasn’t exactly sure how much of it was actually about not liking Arzaylea as a person and how much was about not liking that Luke was dating someone at all.

Calum had only recently came to terms with the fact, that he viewed Luke as more than just a great friend. He had only realized what Luke meant to him after he presented, but somehow he suspected, that the attachment had been in the back of his head for some time already, maybe for as long as the band existed. Honestly he wasn’t sure if it was just a crush or something deeper than that, and he forbid himself from trying to figure it out, because what was the point really? He was pretty sure by now, that Luke wasn’t even remotely interested. For a start, he wasn’t even interested in guys in general; he was all about the ladies. And then there was the omega thing, Luke wasn’t even interested in female omegas, let alone the male ones. Even though he was a beta, and couldn’t automatically distinguish betas and omegas in the crowd, Calum saw him always, without a single exception, going for the independent and strong-willed betas, never giving a second glance to the pretty omegas, that were making heart eyes on him. Poor things, they always seemed so disappointed. Calum could certainly relate.

Calum wasn’t that type of person to dwell on things that didn’t go his way in life, he was too laid back and easy going for that. He simply believed that there was no sense in trying to make the river flow the other way. If Luke didn’t like him, it simply wasn’t mean to be.

But there was still the tiniest bit of hope in the back of his mind, which made him think, what if! What if Luke presented as alpha after all ( it was possible, his family still believed he was just a late bloomer). He was still getting taller and more “manly” after all! And as for the “girls only” thing, wasn’t Michael also always only interested in the opposite sex? And then he presented and Calum went into heat and BOOM! One experience with a male omega was all it took and the alpha wasn’t so one-sided anymore.

Well, it didn’t mean that it would be necessarily the same case with Luke, but Calum could have a dream right? Even if it was getting more and more unreachable every day that Luke stayed unpresented and blissfully in love with his girlfriend. Calum being true to his easy going nature, refused to be all emo about it, moping around wasn’t his thing, he only thought about it from time to time when there was simply nothing more interesting to focus on and Luke looked particularly yummy in his new outfit.

 Like the one he chose for the iHeartRadio Awards. Well, the outfit didn’t turn out to be the only outstanding thing on Luke that night, because the poor boy kinda ended up getting on stage with a huge boner. Well, Calum wasn’t exactly sure, what was the cause of the peculiar problem, but he had a hunch, that Michael had something to do with that. He whispered something to Luke just as were the nominees announced and the beta kinda turned full red upon hearing that.

Calum couldn’t help but find the situation pretty  funny, even though he wouldn’t want to be in LUkes shoes in this. The vocalist didn’t even look very happy when they were announced to win the award and were supposed  to go on stage, because all he could probably think about was how to hide his fucking hard on. Calum would give up his favourite bass for knowing what was that Michael whispered into Lukes ear that made him turned on like this in almost milliseconds, but he had too much pride to ask, also the thing between him and Michael were still a little awkward, even though way better than before their holiday in Australia. It still wasn’t the smartest idea to discuss the topic of impropriate boners with Michael proably, Calum wasn’t stupid, he was well aware, that the alpha harbored some feelings for him, but he was  at a total loss about what to do about that. He had eyes, he knew that the alpha was smoking hot, and he also had to admit that even though the circumstances were horrible he enjoyed that one thing that they had together, or better he would have enjoyed it if he wasn’t so damned confused about everything at that time.

Anyway Michael was like his brother, best friend really, he knew there was something in the alpha that irked him or even attracted him in a way, but considering the way the alpha had been looking at him, Calum was pretty scared to even indicate a chance that there might something happen between the two of them. Because in Calums case, it could hardly lead to anything more than just a fling, and the bassist was pretty sure that wasn’t what the alpha wanted from him. Calum might not be in love with the alpha, but he loved him as a friend and band mate, and in Calums eyes that was the strongest bond, he could imagine to ever have. He wasn’t that much of a fan of relationships anyway, he was all about freinds and the fact, that he presented as omega didn’t change anything.

The began the tour in Lisbon  and then  they moved to  Madrid, they decided to take it easy and have a night in after the show because the tour was a long one and they were staying in Madrid for one more night, so what the hell. Hey Violet on the other hand were ecstatic about being in Europe and on tour in general and went to explore the city.  Calum who for once wasn’t feeling like going out but was too high on the post show endorphins proposed they could watch a horror movie together. He had found a perfect one, the trailer was cool, it was situated in Spain, so it would actually fit their current location. H ekinda hoped he would entice Luke, fellow horror lover, by it , but the beta simply had to call his girlfriend and obviously the call would take two hours. Michael announced he would have an early night, but Calum suspected him, that he just wanted to play some videogames. So that left Ashton and Ashton was a scaredy cat when it came to horror movies,  he got even scared of the Basilisk in Harry Potter second movie, HARRY POTTER MOVIE!!! So Calum didn’t really expect him to join him for the late night horror session, but surprisingly the alpha said yes.

“ So, what is the movie about? “ Ashton asked after he made himself comfortable on the bad next to Calum. “ Is it too bad”

Calum chuckled. “ No. Its just a bit scary from time to time. “

Ashton gave him a doubtful look, clearly not trusting Calums judgement when it came to horror movies. He was such a big horror movies junkie, that he probably wasn’t scared of anything anymore.

“ Whats it called again?”

“REC.”

“ What?”

“ R-E-C. like short for recording.”

“ Why does it have such a stupid name? “

“ Its not stupid. It s because its filmed as found footage film, with shaky cam and stuff.

“ Are you kidding me? Will it be as scary as the Blair Witch movie you forced me to watch? “

“Blair Witch wasn’t scary.”

“ Well, excuse me, I almost pissed myself watching it.”

Calum let out a laugh. “ You should have brought a diaper then.”

“ OK. That’s it. I am not watching this with you if you keep making fun of me for being scared.” Ashton puffed up.

Honestly Calum found it kinda adorable, how Ashton the bravest and most composed alpha he knew turned into a shaking mess when it came to ghosts and demons and all the stuf that wasn’t even real.

“ Please , stay. It wont be that bad. Promise. “ calum scrounged.

But, men, he was wrong! It was bad. Honestly, it might as well be the one single most terrifying movie Calum had ever seen and he had seen a lot. A lot!

The beginning didn’t necessarily implore that the rest of the movie will scare the shit out of you. Ashton was peacefully chewing on his popcorn making a wry comment  on how the jacket of the TV lady looked like the one Michael was wearing on the iHeart Awards. ( not so subtly trying to imply That the alpha wore a female jacket.)

Calum rolled his eyes upon that, but before he could think of something to say in return, things in the movie went terribly wrong. And, wow, it actually scared him too.

“ Holly shit. You said it wont be scary..”

“ Well, it didn’t seem so..”

Calum felt the alpha grab his arm. “ Don’t tell they are…”

“ Yeah, I think they are actually locked in there.” Ashtons face showed a pure terror.

“ Common, you are safe with me. “ Calum actually cooed at the alpha, which promptly collected himself and blushed upon being consoled by the omega.

Calum giggled. “ Don’t worry, I wont tell anyone.”

Ashton let go of him and crossed his arms over his chest, now watching the screen with way more caution.

Calum kept giving his sideway glances, silently chuckling at the alphas tense poker face expression.

“ Relax, its just…HOLLY SHIT!” Calum actually bounced on the bed as the next jump scare came in.

“ What the hell was that? “ ashton screeched, looking absolutely wrecked and it was only 20 minutes to the movie.

“ I don’t know… well, I read, that there were some unscripted shots, that even the actors didn’t now would happen, they just wanted to look it as realistically as possible.”

Ashton looked like Calum had just lost his mind. “ And you are telling me NOW!?! Holly cow, I am gonna kill you Calum!”

The movie went just worse from there. At some point Calum and Ashton both pressed together, trying to make some comfort from each others closeness.

Ashton was alternately covering his face with his hands and hiding his face in Calums shoulder. Calum couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry  about making Ashton watch this. I mean he himself was fucking scared and it hadn’t happened to him for a long time! The atmosphere of the movie was just so sinister and realistic at the same time, that it was really getting under their skin.

“ I am sorry, do you want me to stop it? “

“ Keep it.”

“ Are you sure, we could watch something else…”

“ I said, keep it!” Ashton gritted his teeth. Obviously getting hold of himself and his alpha ego again.   


“ Okay.”

There was a silence for a moment.  Okay, Ashton obviously wanted to play tough.

“ You know what?” Calum smiled, evil flickers dancing in his eyes.

“ What?”

The interior of the building actually looks pretty familiar, doesn’t it remind of the lounge in this hotel?”

“ Fuck, Calum , don’t…”

“ No, it really does, really.. Have you seen the clip for Burry me by 30 seconds to Mars..”

“ Calum, for dear God, just SHUT UP!”

The next scare got them both, and Calum embarrassingly found himself snuggling closer into the alphas side, who was covering his face. He looked down at the frightened omega.

“You are fucking scared too. Don’t even deny it! That s just…. I am not letting you choose a movie----- ever again.” Ashton spat out but at the same time wrapped his arms protectively around the omega.

Calum gave him a surprised look, but the alpha kept glaring at the screen as if it was about to bite him any moment.

Calum thought that maybe he should move slightly away, because it would become really awkward when Ashton came to back to himself and realize the compromising position they were in. It wasn’t a big deal when they were kids, what changed? He was an omega now, right? And Ashotn had a girlfriend, right?

“ FUCK! I am so done with this move. SO DONE! “ Ashtonk yelled out of sudden.

Calum didn’t even know what happened in the movie, that made him yell.

“ You are not scared. How are you not scared???” the drummer whined.

“ I am with you.” Calum blurted out without thinking.

Ashton gave him a big surprised look and Calum mentally smacked himself. Why did he even say that???

Ashtons face turned into a slightly sly smile. “ Yeah, right, you are with the alpha baby.” He said in his sassy interview voice.

Calum snorted but quickly stopped focusing on the matter because there was a zombie girl added to the list of fucking terrifying things in the movie and the movie got to the whole new level of disturbing, from this moment the storyline just span out of control and both ashton and calum spent the rest of it just literally glued to each other, alternately hiding their faces and Ashton cursing Calum for a shitty taste in movies.

When the movie characters finally made it to the attic, they were both pretty much scared enough for the rest of the year in advance.  The attic scenes didn’t actually improve their mood very much. And after the ending  titles started rolling, Calum remained frozen practically lying in Ashotns lap, while the alpha who had been hiding his face behind his head, only now and then peeping out from behind it to look at the screen,  still awkwardly kept his arms wrapped around the omega.

“ Well, I am Sorry, I guess.” Calum peeped out.

“Its okay. I will survive… “ ashton said in not so convincing voice. “ Maybe go a little gray. Yeah.”

Calum twisted himself in his arms and the alpha immediately let go of him at once, his expression unreadable, but his eyes glowing with some fleeting emotion, that Calum just couldn’t grasp.

“ You okay?” Ashton asked softly and the bassist realized he had been staring, quickly looking away.

“ Yeah.”

“ okay, so .. I should probably call it a night. Thanks for the… ehmm… movie.” Ashton suddenly looked a bit abashed too. Calum realized he was still sitting in his lap and quickly slid away.

Ashton rose from the bed and stretched his arms. “ But I was serious.. I am  never letting you choose a movie again. You can beg all you want, just NO!”

Calum gave him a sheepish look. “ lets discuss it tomorrow.”

Ashton snorted at that. After the alpha left the room, Calum let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The hotel room suddenly looked creepily big end empty. At the times like these he really regretted they weren’t sharing rooms anymore. He was getting more and more uncomfortable and his own remark about the hotel lounge came to his mind suddenly. Fuck, he was such a fucktard!

Ashton was walking  to his room, when he heard a sound of opening door behind him. His heart jumped to his throat, as he recalled all those terrible scenes from the movie, what the fuck was wrong with him, he was a fucking alpha… he refused to be scared of weird noises in the middle of the night. Except he kinda was right now.. and weren’t they alone on this floor, so who was fucking opening the door???!!!????

“ Ashton?”

Ashton swiftly turn around and spotted Calum, peeping out of his room. The alpha took a deep breath… ok, he would never ever watch an horror movive again. Never!

“ What is it?” he whispered and went back to Calum. “ Did I forget something? “ he asked and checked his back pocket for his phone. It was there.

“ Could you… could you maybe sleep with me tonight?”

Ashton just blinked at that.

“ I mean in my room. I will leave you the bed, I will sleep on the couch…”

Ashton could immediately think of thousand reasons, why this was very bad idea, but upon seeing Calums distressed face, he decided to forget them.

“ What am I supposed to do with you. “ he wagged his head. “I cant belive you actually talked me into watching a horror movie and then got too scared to sleep alone.

Calums cheeks got a bit red.

“ just wait here , I will go change  and brush my teeth and come back. “

They ended sharing the bed in the end, because Ashton refused to let Calum sleep on the couch, and the bed was big enough to accommodate them both.

Calum fell asleep with his back turned to the alpha, while ashton found himself lying on his back unable to drop off. He couldn’t stop feeling tense and on edge, and the horror movie wasnt even the main cause of this ( it didn’t help though).

Just as he was finally dozing off, he heard a few moans coming from the next room, which brought him back to consciousness. Dammit! Who was in the room next door… oh, wait it was Luke. Another moan broke through the wall, What a douche! Did he have to have a cyber sex with Arzaylea at 3 in the morning or something. Couldn’t he just wait few more hours?

Something that suspiciously sounded like “Michael” sounded from the other room.

Ashton froze.  What the fuck???? Maybe he heard wrong-

“ Michael…”

Or maybe not!!!

 BUT SERIOUSLY…WHAT WAS FUCKING WRONG WITH THIS FUCKING HOTEL???

 It was fucking CREEPY, everyone was just being weird here!

 Thanks god, they were leaving tomorrow!!! He thought and put his hands over his ears.

 

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone knows, when exactly was the She skinda hot and Hey everybody video shot, please let me know! I know when it was released but not when it was actaully made. Thanks!  
> Love you guys!   
> LM


	13. Belfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Calum goes into heat during a show and Luke gets a bit jealous!

The span between Calums heats stabilized somewhere between 6 and 7 weeks. His heats were coming pretty regularly and were usually quite predictable. He could tell he was about to have one the day before it actually started or even the day before that. The guys were really glad that he didn’t suffer from what was commonly called “surprise heat”, which was something that small but not insignificant amount of omegas had to deal every cycle. It meant they were completely fine one minute and then out of the blue, they were in heat. Well, fortunately Calum wasn’t one of the unlucky ones and he could pretty much always tell his heat was gonna begin and they could rearrange things so he could deal with it with as much comfort and privacy as could be provided at the time being. So far he was pretty lucky that his heats had fit in the blank spots in their schedule, and he only missed some interviews and other insignificant stuff. But he knew one day he would run out of his luck and would have to miss a few shows to be able to ride out the heat.

Sometimes he really wished he wasn’t the only omega on tour, even though he was ell aware that more omegas would mean more problems, but he hated being the only one causing problems for the band and management. Even Hey Violet were all betas, well apart from Nia, who was alpha, which Calum embarrassingly only realized after Ashton pointed it out, so it was only Calums heats which were giving ZOP headaches. Alphas ruts weren’t really a problem, they rarely ever began on their own (except the first one), they were provoked as a reaction on an available omega going into heat ideally the omega they were mated to. Besides the more experienced alphas could pretty much suppress it or will it away if it wasn’t convenient for them to act on it. The least experienced alpha on the tour right now was Michael and even though the newly dark haired alpha actually avoided Calum in heat like a plague and looked a bit like kicked kitten every time  Calum obviously chose to spend his heat on his own, he didn’t appear to have problems controlling his instincts, at least not anymore. Ashton and the crew seemed fine, even though Ashton always wore that stupidly considerate look on his face any time he encountered preheat or post-heat Calum, who was still spreading his omega scent around, even though he had tried to get rid of it by having multiple showers.

Calum found it simply not fair, that the alphas could get away with just being more or less mildly affected when the omegas were pretty much unable to function properly for almost a week. In Calums case it was 4 or 5 days of total incapacity and 2 more days of feeling like a lifeless noodle and getting funny looks from any alphas he got close to. It was such an injustice!

But maybe he should have appreciatde what he had and not grumble about it because apparently he lost his karma points with all his whining.  Even though his heats were very predictable so far, his first heat on the Rock out with your socks out tour came out of thin air and kicked his ass royally, and on top of that during one of their concerts.

They were in Belfast and they just began the UK leg of the tour, all excited about the upcoming shows in cities like Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham and of course Liverpool and at the very end London. The last time he was here Calum didn’t really have a chance to enjoy it properly because he went into heat and was moved to Edinburg instantly. So you can imagine his disenchantment when he counted that his next heat was most likely going to hit sometime between 7th and 14th June. So in the best case scenario he would go into heat after their London show, and he would miss the little break in London, again. In worst case scenario he will miss half of the UK leg shows, including Liverpool and all London shows, which scared him so much, that he even took some research into the emergency suppressants, which were supposed to put off  the heat for a few days. The athletes were taking them when they had an important competition coming, so why the hell not using them too. 

The only problem was, that they were actually available on prescription only, so he had to talk it through with David, their tour manager, so of course his band mates found out, because they lived in each others shoes basically, so it was bound to happen as soon as it left his mouth. And as he could have predicted Ashton was fundamentally against it, saying that it wasn’t safe to use the supps in the first year after presentation, to which Calum opposed it had been a year, but Ashton of course had to come up with some stupid study that suggested that it wasn’t even safe for two years.

David in the end took Calums side and for the sake of the tour helped him contact a doctor who prescribed him the drugs after Calum promised he would only use them if absolutely necessary. BUt of course Ashton fought back by contacting Calums parents, and his mom chewed his ass on scype. Only after two hours! Of arguing she budged but made his promise to only use the suppressant every other time the heats collided with the shows, so basically he was allowed to use it this time if he promised to let his heat go naturally next time, which if he counted correctly would be sometime in North America, which really wasn’t ideal either, but hey at least it wasn’t London, right?

Satisfied to have at least some way to regulate his heats and trying his best  to ignore Ashton s ever ending remarks about all the known and not known but possible side effects of taking emergency suppressants, Calum all but forgot about his upcoming heat, he was expecting the usual pre-heat warnings which his body usually gave him, except his body probably sensed that he would try to cheat it and decided to strike back, in advance.

To be completely honest, Calum did feel a little bit on edge when they were waiting for the Hey Violet to finish their set, but he wrote it off to excitement before the show. Then Michael suggested pulling a prank on Hey Violet and they wrapped all their luggage with toilet paper until it looked positively mummified and Calum laughing his ass out forgot about his weird mood.

Calum still felt a bit strange when they went on stage but since it was only 4 weeks from his last heat he didn’t suspect anything heat – related going on.  After their set started he concentrated on putting on a show but found it a little hard to focus, still had no clue about what was going on though. During the Amnesia he zoned out completely for a moment and it was something that rarely ever happened to him on stage, he almost missed his cue and Luke hand signaled “get it together” at him. He forced himself to focus better after that.

Michael could pretty much tell that Calum was off his feet that night, but didn’t think too much of it, everyone had a bad day from time to time, maybe he didn’t sleep well or something. That was before they invited a girl on stage. Her name was Rachel, she played bass and her hairdo kinda reminded him of Dolores from Cranberries. She wasn’t half bad actually and everyone cheered for her when she played English Love Affair. After that she hugged Calum, than Luke, and than Michael and even though she was a beta Michael could smell the distinct scent of omega in heat from her, and not just any omegas – it was Calums!

He looked over at the bassist and he could tell, he hadn’t realized it yet. It was during the American Idiot when he heard Calums breath hitch and the bassist stopped singing for a moment before catching up again. Luke was obviously aware something was up but he had no idea what.

The omega himself realized what was going on only when out of the blue  a wave of tell-tale heat washed over him,for a moment he wanted to panic but then he realized  there were only two more songs left of the set  and he could do it – he had to!

He caught Michaels look from the other side of stage and nodded slightly to get him know he could do it. At least he hoped he could, he felt sweat running down his back and slick dumping his boxers . Two more songs, only two more songs… Why did it have to happen to him NOW? He had never had a surprise heat, WHY NOW?

They started their last song and Calum mustered up the last bits of his energy to make some show, because it was She Looks So Perfect and everybody had been waiting for this song, so he couldn’t disappoint them. He jumped around with the boys and for a moment the adrenaline fought off the upcoming heat and he felt almost normal. But the moment the song ended his thighs started shaking and he would collapse on the spot if there wasn’t for Luke who sneaked his hand around the omegas waist to give a bow. The beta only realized there was something seriously  wrong, when he heard Calums heavy breathing and felt him leaning heavily on him.

Michael was by them in a second, but didn’t  stand next to Luke like usual but went over to Calum to support him from the other side. Calum would be more grateful  if it wasn’t for the fact that Michaels  sweaty smell didn’t make it exactly  easy for him to keep his head clear.

“ Cal?” Luke whispered.

“ Hes in heat.” Michael murmured towards the beta ad Luke sucked in a breath in shock.

Calum disappeared backstage as soon as possible. There was a lot of people  there and for a moment he felt completely lost, before he felt strong arms reaching for him. It was Dave from security, Calum heard him shouting something at the closest people and then he felt him push him aside, away from the crowd.

“ Calum. CALUM!” it was Michael who pushed through the crowd closer to the omega.

“Are you okay?” the dark haired alpha asked.

“ Fuck!... NO.” the omega slid down the wall and tried to take a few deep breaths.

“Put the fucking phone away!” he heard Ashton shouting from somewhere near him.

“What about the encore?” Luke spoke up.

“Fuck the encore. “ Michael spat out.

“But … everyone is waiting for it.” Luke really didn’t mean to make it sound so annoyed and spiteful, but it kinda did. Maybe it had something to do with the nasty feeling that made itself felt when he was watching Michael gently rubbing Calums shoulder in a soothing matter.

Calum gave him an ashamed look and then lowered his eyes.  
“Sorry… you could do it without me… I mean, I could try…”

“ Nonsense.” Michael cut him off while simultaneously shooting Luke a look that clearly said “ go fuck yourself”.

Luke could feel his cheeks burning up. Before he could collect himself, Ashton joined them, his hair sticking messily from his bun.

“ How are You holding up? “ he asked the omega.

“ Luke is being an ass. “ Michael chipped in.

Luke slumped down his shoulders in an useless attempt to make himself smaller when Ashton looked at him questioningly. But ZOP was already coming over to them, informing them about the encore had been cancelled. After that Ashton and Luke went to say goodbye to the audiences and Michael and Dave took Calum to the dressing room.

Calum and Michael went to the hotel in advance. Luke and Ashton took the other car and the ride wasn’t exactly pleasant one. Ashton was clearly nervous about Calum being with the other alpha while in full heat, he still hadn’t trusted him completely, and Luke was still silently beating himself up about making Calum upset. He knew better than trying to make Calum feel bad about not being able to give 100 percent show.

They kept silent until suddenly Ashton turned around in his seat leaning towards Luke who was sitting in the back and asked him with a look of pissed of teacher.

“ What was it about you being ass to Calum? “ Luke already felt like a ground schooler who forgot his homework.

“Nothing... I just said something… I didn’t mean it come out so ..bad.”

“ What did you say? “

“ Nothing.”

“ Lucas.”

“ NOTHING! Leave me alone!”

Luke folded his arms over his chest and fixed his eyes on the passing  street.

He heard Ashton give a sigh and return to his previous position. He clearly gave up on prying something out of the beta.

For some reason it occurred to Luke that he really didn’t want the alphas to hate him. He felt an intense urge to make it up to them, to make them pleased, to make them like him. He didn’t really understand where it came from, sure they were his friends, but it didn’t mean he had to lick up to them. If something he should try to make it up to Calum, but somehow his heart was more concerned about what the alphas would think of him. It was really confusing.

When they made it to the hotel, a band meeting was called. Everyone one was on edge, still ZOP somehow made them focus on the practical stuff, because they were in some deep shit right now. The best decision they finally after some heated discussion agreed on was to leave Calum in Belfast for the time being so that if he gets better he could fly to Edinburg to Malis, where he would definitely be more comfortable. Dave and John would stay with him for the time being, so that he wouldn’t be all on his own in a foreign city.

The rest of the band and Hey Violet spent a night and the other day they flew to Glasgow because they still had shows to put on ! Luke wanted to visit Calum before checking out and apologize for being an ass, but when he went to his room, he was stopped by Ben and Ashton who were standing at his door and discussing something. Ashton told him, that Calum had just fallen asleep and Luke dejectedly dragged himself away.  

He really had to look pretty down, because Ashton who was sitting next to him on the plane took mercy on him.

“ Michael told me what happened. It was nothing, don’t worry about that.” He smiled at the blond.

“ I don’t..”

“ Common, I can see its eating you up. I thought you said something.. I don’t know.. worse… it was really nothing. So sorry for being being a bit jerkish.”

“ But Calum..”

 “Calum is just really sensitive when in heat, its an omega thing. And Michael… Michael is just being Michael around him, I guess. So don’t beat yourself about it. “ Ashton smiled at him again and slapped his thigh playfully.

Luke visibly melted upon hearing that. He almost felt ashamed by how much influence the alphas acceptance had on him.

Ashton smiled at him and kept watching Luke’s face even after he turned away from him to look out of the window. He couldn’t help but think about what he overheard the other night in Lisbon. He let out a silent sigh and put the headphones over his ears.

 Luke was really glad that the alphas weren’t mad at him but his relieve was short lived. Just when he though he got over it, they were having a hotel night in Birmingham and  he had one of those fucking stupid dreams / nightmares again.

It was really similar to the last one except this time, they all willingly joined the camp. They were divided into teams, and him and Michael were in a different team than Calum and Ashton, and obviously it was a big deal, because there was a lot of rivalry between the teams, especially these ones, they were like Slytherin and Gryffindor.  One day Michael started behaving kinda weird and started disappearing in the middle of the night. So one night when Luke woke up and found his bed empty he sneaked out of the cabin too and followed him. He was more than shocked when he found the alpha making out with Calum behind an old willow on the lakeshore. Michael had Calum pinned against its trunk and his mouth was moving over  his neck doing soemthing which the omega obviously enjoyed, judging on the high pitched noises he was letting out.  Mihcael had one hand propped up against the tree next to Calums head, the other one was working itself under Calums shirt at the small of his back and simultaneously pushing him closer to Michaels groin.

The dream Luke stopped in his tracks as soon as he spotted them, for a moment absolutely dumbfounded how Michael could meet with someone from the other team. He didn’t have much time to think of what to do with the knowledge  because One second he was just standing there as a creepy stalker, the other one he was kinda in Calums shoes, he was the Calum in the dream know, and he could feel Michaels cold hands traveling up his back under his shirt while the alpha was murmuring “ Oh, fuck Calum!” into his neck.

Luke could feel himself (or rather Calum) getting hard and wet… which was really bizarre, because Luke shouldn’t really  know what it felt like to produce slick , but he somehow could imagine it pretty well. He could feel the wetness soaking into the seam of his jeans and the need pooling up in his belly and he couldn’t help but moan helplessly.

“ Michael … oh god… Michael!”

He found himself wishing that the alpha would move his hand from his back and touched his burning groin instead, he wanted to feel his fingers around his dick, he wanted them down from where the wetness was coming. And for a moment he had to remind himself that it wasn’t him but Calum who was feeling all those things…

“ Luke…” Michael almost sang into his year and Luke didn’t know who he was anymore. Michaels hand moved to his belly and Luke didn’t even try to stop himself from making another little whiny sounds. He wasn’t even ashamed anymore, he just wanted the pressure of Michaels hand in his pants, but…

The beta woke up with a jerk, blinking into the light.  He took some time to realize where he was and what he was doing there. He was in Birmingham, right. He was in a hotel room, right. His alarm clock was ringing and he was supposed to wake up, right. Except nothing was right and everything was sooo fucking wrong.

Luke drowsily turned off the alarm and fell back to the bed. Fuck, fuck, fuck… what was that fucking dream again??? What was wrong with him? Why was he having dreams like this?  

As usual there was no time for him to think about it because there was a show to play. And it was even more demanding than usual because they were down a bassist and Rena  from Hey Violet played bass for them instead. Thanks God for her, she tried really hard  but sometimes she fucked up, because she didn’t know all their songs and was already tired from their own set so, everyone had to be double attentive and they had to help each other and improvise a lot. At least John was already back after Calum, who adamantly refused to stay in the hotel and moved to Edinburg. So John could have joined them, which was awesome because  Having different front of house sound operator had sucked!

But still, it was more work than usual. But from Lukes point of view, he was almost glad, because at least he had no time to think about that fucking dream and everything that had been going on with him lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment , I am a comment junkie !!!


	14. London Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael gets hurt during the Wembley concert and Calum goes with him to the hospital. Stuff happens.

They were playing Wembley. Unbelievable! Three years ago, none of them would have imagined this could happen! They were making their little YouTube videos, playing covers and impatiently waiting for every comment, hypnotizing the number of hits to make it rise. Yet here they were standing in front of thousands of people, presenting their own album, singing their own songs and watching the audiences singing with them. It was simply unbelievable, how much had changed since the four of them played their first gig together, wondering if someone would come to see their ambitious but totally unknown quartet.

Luke had been more than a little nervous before stepping up on the stage in Wembley Arena, he hadn’t been so jittery ever since Michael lost his passport and they had to perform live at the Jingle Bell Ball as a trio. Somehow playing Wembley was having this effect on him though. He could tell his band mates were thrilled as fuck, but definitely not having so much nerves, but that was just him, the singer was well aware of being the biggest jitterbug in the band and long ago came to terms with that and learnt to hide it behind his “stage face”. 

The good thing was, that Calums heat was already over, and there was no chance of it coming back for some time, so there was one thing they didn’t have to worry about anymore, at least for the time being. Well, it gave them a good scare last time, but they somehow managed to handle the situation and it only strengthened the believe Luke had in their band, still…. _this_ was Wembley, another milestone for them,  nothing was allowed to go wrong tonight, everything had to be perfect!

And to Lukes surprise it actually was! Calum had twice as energy on stage as usual, as if he wanted to compensate for the time he spent “out of order”  during his heat, Ashton was drumming as if he wanted to break through the drums and bang on the famous stage and Michael was being just wild! He reminded Luke of a crazy cheetah on speed, unable to stay in one place for more than two seconds … running around so quickly, that Luke sometimes wasn’t even sure in which part of the stage he was at the moment.

After the encore, they said goodbye to the audiences and stepped off the stage in great mood. The atmosphere backstage was amazing.

Ashton looked like he just took a shower in his clothes; Calum was making fun of the sweat drenched drummer earning himself a good smack on his backside, obviously not expecting the drummer to be so “tactile" because he let _not a very manly_ squeak out.

“It was fucking awesome!!!” Michael rejoiced.

“Yeah, we just finished, and I already want to go back. Can’t wait for tomorrow! “

Ashton settled for nodding his head because he was too busy gulping down gallons of water to rehydrate himself.

Michael was observing him with a suspicious interest  for a moment before a mischievous  grin appeared on his face and he asked, with a deadly serious face on. “Does ashton ever remind you of a camel? “

Ashotn spat out the water that found itself in his mouth at the moment and Calum burst out laughing next to him.

“ No really, look! He even spits like a camel!” Michael went on with.

Luke didn’t resist very long and joined Calum in the laughing fit.

“ This camel will just chew your ass , you asshole! “ the drummer uttered solemnly and Michael wisely took to his heals, running away to the bathroom, before Ashton could cross the room to get at him and smack him one.

The alpha gave it up after Michael was out of reach, probably too lazy to chase the troublemaker, instead he fixed his eyes on his other bandmates who were almost rolling on the floor with laughter.

“ Yeah, yeah, very funny!”

“ Sorry, but .. you kinda look like dromedary to me right now!” Calum couldn’t stop giggling.

Ashton made a face and folded his arms over his chest. “ You know what. Just enjoy being the one to laugh for now, with your BETA friend here.”

Calum stopped laughing immediately, looking over to Luke, who thankfully didn’t question what his friends were talking about, because he was probably used to them talking some nonsense all the time.

“HOLLY SHIT!” sounded from the bathroom.

“ Mikey? You all right? “

“ Yeah, you should see this.”

The rest of them joined Michael in the enclosed bathroom. It was big enough to accommodate all of them, at least usually, because now it was up to the ceiling stuffed with something that looked like blew up balloons, only they were all clear… and weirdly shaped.

“ Hey, balloons..” Luke who was the last one to come in, squeaked before taking a better look.

Michael turned to him with an look saying “ _I knew you were an idiot, but so much of an idiot_. “I really hope you are still a virgin.” He said to Luke.

“ What the fucking hell.” Calum caught one of the blew up condoms and read what was written on it. “ –Play it safe, 5SOS!!!-“ and then their logo!” Very likely courtesy of Hey Violet.

Luke turned tomato red. “I didn’t see them properly.” He tried to defend himself.

“ One would say, you could recognize a condom when it literally hits your nose by know.” Ashton smirked at him obviously trying to take a little revenge for the camel thing.

“ Get off my back, I hadn’t seen them!”

“ Someone should give him the talk! I think the world wouldn’t survive more Hemmings. Do you know what these are for Lukey?” Michael teased him.

Luke took the closest preservative and smacked the guitarist over his head, with little effect of course because the alpha only laughed harder.

“ Yeah, that’s exactly what they are NOT for!” Ashton added and Luke got even redder if it was even possible.

“ I hate this band.” The vocalist turned around and left the bathroom,  too late realizing he was still holding the condom, he kicked it as a football and it flew across the corridor.

That night they all gathered in Michaels room, to some modest mini celebration of their Wembley success, they also tried to come up with  some sweet revenge on Hey violet, but couldn’t think of anything really good, so they gave it up in the end and decided to save the vendetta for later.

Yet, the other day any thoughts of revenge kinda went out of window because the otherwise perfect show ended with an accident, when Michael had a little quarrel with the pyrotechnics and ended up with his hair burning up.

Luke wasn’t even aware of what was happening, he just saw from the corner of his eye that his bandmate disappeared from the stage a little bit too early! He finished the song anyway and after the lights gone out he rushed backstage to see what was the matter again!

There he met equally confused Ashton.

“ Oh god!” the drummer let out as he saw the guitarist holding onto his face , breathing heavily obviously in pain. The smell of his burnt up hair heavy in the air.

“ What the hell… Mikey!!!” He stammered out as he moved closer to the younger alpha, who was already being looked after by the medics. Calum was already by his side, looking awfully worried.

“ The fucking pyrotechnics ..” he mumbled towards Ashton.

“ Is he alright?” the drummer asked worriedly, the question aimed at one of the medics, who were examining Michaels face.

“We should take him to the hospital, they will check him up. It doesn’t look like a severe burn, but he definitely should be checked up!

“ Im right here you know… doing fine by the way… thanks for asking..” Michael muttered sarcastically but it didn’t turn out half as acid as it was meant to.

“ You should go and say something to the audiences, guess you lot will bunk off the encore again.”

Ashton informed the audience that the concert won’t be finished, while Luke and Calum stayed with Michael. Luke was still completely put out of countenance from time to time trying to come up with something to say  to console Michael while the medics bandaged his face.

“ How you doing?” Michael asked and it took Luke few seconds to understand who was the question aimed at. Only now he realized that Calum had something like a piece of wet gauze pressed to his arm. Was he hurt to?

“I am fine. Worry about yourself!” The omega grumbled.

“ Were you burnt too?” Luke asked.

“ Its nothing, it just licked me a little. Worry about Michael, he is the one looking like Phantom of the opera.”

The fact, that the alpha in question didn’t even protest or offer any more snide remarks, was a tell-tale sign that he wasn’t  quite all right.

He was sitting between the medics, his head down, stamping his right foot, which was exactly what he was doing when he was extremely nervous or distressed.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Luke finally mustered up a descent sentence, putting his hand on the alphas shoulder tentatively. Michael let out a huff, but didn’t protest.

“Ok, we are all done here. We should move him to the hospital before it really comes to itself. “Michael looked up looking positively scared now. Luke sucked in a breath, what did they mean… by coming to itself?

“ ok,  I will go with you. “ the vocalist heard a voice behind himself. “How did Ashton manage to stay so calm in this situation?

“ No. Calum will go with him, they have to  check his arm anyway.” ZOP interfered seemingly appearing out of nowhere. I called there and filled them in already. It’s a great facility, they will be in good hands.

“ But… “ Ashton wanted to protest, but then  his look fell down  to the omegas covered arm. “ What happened to Cal? Are you burnt too?”

“ I m fine.” The omega snapped, clearly tired of persuading everyone that he wasn’t the one to be worried about right now. He had been sunburnt more badly than this before and he survived.

“ Really, ashton. You and Luke should go back  to the hotel. You have the interview tomorrow, and you should get some sleep.” ZOP continued.

Sleep? Was he kidding? Like hell, Luke would be able to fall asleep now.

“ We will call you from the hospital, share the news.” Calum assured them, while the medic checked up on his arm again. Ashton didn’t look very convinced, but ZOP was doing the job of tour manager for a reason, he was good at making everyone do their job no matter what!

In the end they had to take it and return to the hotel ahead without Michael and Calum. Luke felt his eyes stinging when they were leaving the arena, instantly feeling ashamed of himself. He refused to be such a crybaby. Ashton unfortunately noticed and threw his arm around his shoulders.

“ they’ll be fine, you see.” Luke sniffed.

“ they would call 911 and not let them go into hospital on their own if there was something seriously wrong.” The alpha continued.

“ yeah, but he seemed in so much pain.” Luke whispered sounding more whiny than he intended to.

Ashton sighed, he was pretty sure that the beta  had a little crush on th alpha by now. To be honest, it wouldn’t occur to him if he hadn’t heard him moaning the alphas name twice now, from the other room. But since then he started noticing the little subtle looks Luek was sending Michaels way from time to time, maybe not even realizing what he was doing himself. He was pretty sure it was just a phase and the beta ( or future alpha) would grow out of it, but for now, he couldn’t help but feel for the vocalist, who was sniffing next to him. He could be surprised even, because he himself felt his insides clench when he thought about what could have happened if Michael would be in slightly worse place at the time the fireworks went off and got hit straight to his face and eyes. His stomach churned at the thought.

“We should be with them right now.” Luke muttered almost inaudibly but Ashton heard him anyway.

“I know.” The alpha didn’t like it either that they left  half of their band alone in the time they needed them the most. It went against all his believes.

He seemed in thoughts and than out of sudden he jerked himself forward and quickly whispered something to the driver.

“ Are you sure?” the clearly confused guy asked him.

“ yes! “

“ What? What did you tell him?”

“ We are going to the hospital.”

“ Really? But ZOP said..”

“ I know, what he said. And I respect him and all, but he is wrong in this one. We are not just a band, we are a family and I am not letting Cal and Mikey being in the hospital on their own!”

Even though it wasn’t a command, something of Astons alpha voice crept into his voice and Luke couldn’t help but flinch a little. At the same time he became really happy though, that Ashotn had the balls to stand up to their manager and stick with their band teamwork.

Luke felt also weirdly satisfied by the fact, that even though the two alphas of 5sos were treating each other like cat and dogs sometimes, especially lately when they were wooing the same omega, Ashton still called the other alpha Mikey in a situation like this.

The driver didn’t manage to find a good parking spot so he dropped them off in front of the entrance and quickly ran away before some hospital attendant could throw a fit about it. Only when they were inside they realised that they had no clue where was Calum and Michael actually taken. The hospital seemed like a huge labyrinth and the orientational plan could be switched with Michael Jackson poster and would be equally useful.

Meanwhile in the Clinic of Burns …

Michael was sitting in the waiting area in front of the doctor’s office, waiting for the doctor to come back and give him consent to go home. Half of Michaels face was all patched up. He had just come back from the ophthalmological examination, which he was forced to take in case the fire had affected his sight in any way. It hadn’t, which was what he also could have told them, if anybody asked him. Thats why he hated hospitals, somehow he always felt like an object to be examined and probed  instead of a human being when he was  ushered there. But he knew they were just doing their job, he was just tired and cranky, because he was in pain.

“ Mikey?”

Calum came over to him with two cups in his hands.

“ Coffee? “ the alpha asked in hope, even though he knew the doctor prohibited him from having any. It dehydrated and right now, he needed quite the opposite.

“ Water.” Calum handed him the cup.

“Aahh.” The alpha complained.

“ Shut up, looser. I took water myself, just to be supportive, but if you don’t stop whining I will go back and take some espresso. “

Michael wanted to laugh, but as he tried to move his mimic muscles, he could feel ominous twinges in under the gauze on his face and decided against it. The doctor had warned him that the pain will come with delay, once the body recovers from the shock, and the adrenaline washes away, he would start feeling way more uncomfortable than he already was. They had stuffed him with some painkillers, but they wont work forever either. Michael had already started feeling an echo of a throbbing pain in his face.

He  swallowed a wince, he didn’t care for a pity, especially from Calum, he felt like he should be here for the omega, not the other way around. Another jab of pain, and the alpha gritted his teeth. When he met Calums look, he realized he probably wasn’t really that  subtle.

“ Does it hurt? “ the omega asked in a soft and unusually gentle voice, which kinda caught Michael of guard. Be it under other circumstances he would die with happiness after hearing the omega talk to him like this. It was moment like these that kiwis inner omega characteristics really showed. The need to tend and care, the protectiveness and overall gentleness showing.

“ Just a little. “ he said and was surprised how different his own voice sounded. “Nothing that I couldn’t sleep away.”

Calum nudged his arm, smiling at the – _trying to play tough_ \- alpha. He surely had grown a lot, since they were both kids.

“ How is your arm anyway?” the alpha asked, masking the slight wince at the end of the sentence as a cough. But it was obvious, that talking was hurting him.

“ Fine. Like a sunburn. And stop talking, I know it hurts you , you dumbass.”

“ Oh, oh… bossy.” Michael tried to chuckle but it came out choked because the pains got worse.

“Oh, are you saying I cant be bossy, because I am an omega? Oh I will show you how bossy I can be.”

“ Is it a promise? “ Michael tried to sneer but this time a sharp pain in his cheek prevented him from that. And before he could clench his teeth loud hiss escaped his mouth instead.

“ Shit!” He uttered.

Calum looked at him, worry evident in his eyes.”

“ Seriously Michael, if you don’t shut up, I will make you..”

“ is—“

“ And NO! its not a promise!”

Michael made the effort to look profoundly disappointed, making puppy eyes on calum.” can I put my head into your lap?” The alpha tried the boundaries, he was probably still a little bit in shock and very likely quite high on the medications, because he wouldn’t dare to ask this any other time.

The kiwi took a deep breath. “Come here, you wuss.” He set aside his cup of water and guided Michael to lie down on the uncomfortable hospital seats. “ just because you are a goose and hurting. Don’t get used to it. “

Calum gently traced his fingertips over the bandage on Michaels face.

“ does it still hurt? “ he asked gently.

“ its better.” Michael whispered, because, well it was truth. He had heard that omegas touch could have this effect on alphas. It was scientifically very questionable area, but some healers swore on it being true. Michael doubted though, that any other omegas touch would have this effect on him.

“ it s really better.”

Calum smiled at him and Michaels heart almost stopped. Calum was the only one on the whole earth who could smile like that.  Like a sunshine coming after days of heavy rain. The alpha just closed his eyes, simply focusing on the feel of Calums careful fingers.

He lied like this for a moment before opening his eyes again.

“What time is it..” he tried to speak but his face started burning again.

 Calums fingertips found their way to the alphas lips…

“ shhh..” he said. “ don’t talk.” He left his hand on Michaels chin and alpha took in a breath.  Before he could think about it Michael got hold of the bassists hand and squeezed it slightly.

Something was exchanged in their looks, even if left unsaid, and the next moment Michael rose up from Calums lap while the omega cupped his chin with his hand slightly pressed his lips onto his, carefully avoiding the achy area. 

Meanwhile…

Luke turned around another corner, silently hoping, that he will find the right corridor this time. They had been looking for their bandmates for more  than a fucking hour. They had split up to find them easier, but in the end they just got more lost. Luke had a hunch, that he was just walking in circles, he swore he had walked around psychiatry like five times!  There was this one patient sitting in front of the door, that kind of scared him and then the last time Luke was passing by he was gone, and somehow it was even worse! He was obviously missing some important diversion, which should lead him to the clinic of burns, but wait!...he hasn’t been here yet, that’s a progress! This must be the right turn! Luke stopped in his tracks, rejoicing, because obviously it was the right turn.  Oh, finally! He could already see… Calum and Mikey… right there! They were sitting on the seats and ----wait, wait, wait.. KISSING???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. If you did, tell me! If you didnt, definitely let me know!   
> Love you!
> 
> LM


	15. London Again II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is just being weird.

Luke blinked just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, but when he focused again his two friends were still there with their lips attached to each other. Instinctively Luke stepped back and started retreating; moving backwards, back  behind the corner which he had just went around. As he was retreating, his back hit something and he started up before he realized what it was, or rather who.

“For the fucks sake, Luke! What are you doing, dammit!”

The drummer, into which he had just crashed, staggered and dropped the armload of stuff he had been carrying. Few oranges started rolling down the hallway and the chocolate bars and other sweet stuff scattered all around Ashton

“Watch where you are going!” Ashton fought to regain his balance. “Next time you insist that we have to buy all this fucking stuff you carry it yourself!” Ashton cursed while leaning down to gather all the treats, which were obviously meant to comfort the injured guitarist.

“Sorry.” Luke apologized quickly and bent down to help Ashton.

“ What’s up? You never apologize this quickly. “ Ashton rose his eyebrows questioningly, smelling something suspicious in the air. But Luke just shrugged his shoulders.

“Have you found Cal and Mikey already?”

Luke gulped. “No.” he lied, he didn’t even know why he covered for them, but somehow he couldn’t make himself to deal with it right now.

“ Well, I guess they must be somewhere around here. The nurse at the ophthalmology told me, that they had already left, so they must be here…

Out of sudden Calums head appeared from around the corner.

“ Luke? Ashton! I thought I heard familiar voices.“The omega smiled at them and wow, he probably deserved an Oscar, because he didn’t give away the slightest sign that he had been snogging with Michael just moments before.

Luke would probably believe that he had been only imagining things, if it wasn’t for the fact, that Michael wasn’t such a good actor and he had his very guilty face on, plus his lips looked kinda puffed up. While Ashton might have thought that the guitarist was just  feeling bad about keeping them all in the hospital, while they should be resting in the hotel right now, Luke knew which way was the wind blowing.

“Well, thank you for all the stuff, but they are not keeping me overnight, so you didn’t have to bring me oranges and stuff, but thanks anyway. “ Michael slurred trying to articulate as little as possible. Ashton gave Luke the “I told you” look. The beta again not even trying to come with any defence.

“Ok, I will keep it then.” Calum reached for the sweets, but Michael swiftly grabbed at them.  “No way, I am the injured one, remember?”

“But my arm still hurts!” Calum bat his eyelashes at the guitarist.

“Ok, you can have some.” Michael smiled at the omega and Luke didn’t miss Calum blushing slightly.

The beta let out a deep sigh, somehow giving the impression of being properly annoyed.

 “What’s up with you?” The drummer asked him. “Did something happen?”

Luke could see the omega freeze a little form the corner of his eye. “Im fine, just wondering when we finally get to the hotel to have some sleep. Im fucking dead-beat.“ He said and sounded more than little grumpy.

“ Hey, we told you, you didn’t have to come.“ Calum went to a defence mode but at the same time looked a bit relieved.

“Really,  I am sorry, guys.” The guitarist gave them an apologetic look, looking honestly ashamed for being the cause of problems for the band.

“Its not a problem, really. We wanted to come, RIGHT? “ Ashton looked at Luke expectantly, but the beta just shrugged again, looking away from his friends. Ashton looked at him with surprise in his eyes.

“ Mr. Clifford? “ the doctor finally turned up, ushering both Calum and Michael into his office.

The moment the door closed behind them, Ashton slapped Lukes shoulder.

“ What’s wrong with you? You wanted to come as much as me. You even made me to buy all the food, even though I told you , they wont keep him in overnight.  Now you behave like I forced you to come here against your will. Whats tha matter?”

“ sorry, just tired.” Was the only explanation Ashton got while Luke didn’t even look at him.

“ Bullshit. Something happened. Tell me what got your panties in a twist. “

“ Nothing, Okay?!? “ Luke almost shouted at him. “ stop acting like my dad and stop analysing me.  I told you, I am just tired!“

Ashton paused in surprise. He was totally taken aback by Lueks behaviour. The youngest member of 5sos was known for being a grumpy moody bitch sometimes, but he  never one to hide what was eating him up. Rather he usually annoyed everyone with it  until someone snapped and the vocalist got his way. Being secretive wasn’t like him at all.

“Ok, we have all clear. We are going home. “ Calum chirped  and looked over at his friends. “Something the matter?”

“No, nothing at all.” Ashton scratched behind his ear, unintentionally giving away something was up. Calum frowned but didn’t dig in. He wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, he had already let too much happen in here.

After coming back to the hotel, Michael took as many painkillers as he could ( maybe a one too much, but whatever)  and went to bed hoping he would get some sleep before being awaken by pain again.

ZOP luckily gave him and Calum break, which couldn’t be said about Ashton and Luke, who were chewed out by the tour manager thoroughly for disappearing without  a word and unintentionally giving him  a mini heart attack. Luckily he knew them well enough to swiftly  deduce where they might be. He let them go pretty quickly only because  it was almost morning and they had to get up  quite early to get to that interview.

After few hours of sleep the drummer met the guitarist in the hotel hall and immediately assessed that Luke looked like he hadn’t slept at all. Surprisingly despite obvious lack of rest it seemed like his mood improved almost magically overnight. Ashton just shook his head at that. Luke really behaved strangely lately, even to his own standards.

The interview was pretty easy. For the most of the time they were asked over and over how Michael was doing, Luke surprised ashton again because he was acting more composed than Ashton himself and was handling the interviewers questions with an detached view , like it all had been just a great story with an happy ending.  Only when the interviewer asked if Michael had to go to the doctors, luke seemed to lose his composure for a little bit and for some reason looked really sad.

Ashton really didn’t understand Luke at all, but had no time to anylyse the teenagers unpredictable moodswings, because next they were playing the card against humanity, and as much as they looked forward to play in full set, the two of them still had some fun and it seemed to improve both of their spirits.

They played the last Webley show that night and Luke was mightily glad, when he could hit the pillow after that,  He hadn’t slept at all the night before, mostly because he spent majority of the time he actually could sleep lying in his bed trying to wrap his head around what he had just witnessed in the hospital.

 Logically he shouldn’t be surprised, something like that was bound to happen, Michael couldn’t be more obvious about his crush at the omega and Calum never really declined the possibility of something more ever happening between the two of them, he had just insisted on needing more time. Maybe an year was enough time for the omega?  And there was definitely some chemistry between those two, even Luke could tell that much.

And why should it even matter to Luke, if the two of them started dating or stuff, it shouldn’t, right? They were his friends, he should be happy for them snd sure, it maybe wasn’t ideal for the band, but whatever, if they should break up in the future, they would somehow deal with it.

And  It’s not like he was interested in Calum or Michael romantically, they were just his friends. This weird jealousy streaks he had experienced were just him being jealous in a friendly way, right? He didn’t want Cal or Mikey to spend less time with him because they were together. But that wouldn’t happen. They were his friends after all…

As for the dreams he had had, they meant nothing. They were just strange figment s of his teenage imagination and raging hormones.

He was straight, he loved his girlfriend and he definitely wasn’t in love with his bandmate. Definitely not. Period. He was just a healthy teenager with some weird jerks for friends, who were sometimes rubbing their own weirdness on him.

By the time he had to get up in the morning, he hadn’t managed to get any sleep, on the other side he managed to convince himself into thinking that everything was alright after all. He hadn’t have to be worried about Michael anymore. If the looser proved to be okay enough to be snogging with his bandmate, he sure as hell didn’t deserve any pity. Luke couldn’t believe he had almost cried about the silly alpha, now he felt  like a moron for being so worked up about it. Michael was doing just fine – great even, if he should consider the fact that he had obviously manged to pull the omega he had been fawning over the last year. And Luke and Michael could go back to pushing each other around, like they were supposed to. Maybe he would even  present soon and become alpha too, for the first time in a long time Luke actually take delight in the thought of becoming alpha, it would make Michael soo mad!

Even though he didn’t get any sleep, he had felt really better in the morning. Like he had figured everything out and realised there was noo problem at all. That all problems were just in his head and he had just solved them by realising how stupid he was.

Ashton seemed really surprised upon his change in behaviour, Luke could tell, that the drummer found his sudden humourful approach to the whole accident  quite confusing. Like his joking about liking Michaels hair shorter… not that short though, ha ha. It was kinda dark humour in his situation, but whatever, lets face the truth , Michael might be as well just making out with Calum in the hotel right now, while they had to get up after like 4 hours of sleep and work their  asses presenting their band in an interview so he could as well kiss his ass. It was his own fault, that he got burnt anyway, he should have listened to the instructions. Luke did and nothing happened to him.

After London they were coming back home. There was an Australian leg of the tour ahead of them and this time everyone was especially glad to see the familiar continent. They definitely deserved a break after all that happened in last few weeks, Calums heat, Michaels injury etc.

Ashton had sensed a weird tension in the group ever since Michaels injury. He had a rising suspicion that it had actually something to do with something that happened in the hospital, yet he couldn’t put a finger on what exactly happened. All he knew was, that Calum and Michael were tip- toeing around each other again, but in a very different way than after their hook up last year. They were nicer to each other in a way but also I little bit more reserved and distant. He was also convinced that Luke had something to do with all that, because he kinda changed ever since London. Michael and Luke probably didn’t notice, but the vocalist became kinda more reclusive and kept more to himself, spending hours on phone with his girlfriend. Not  that he wouldn’t do tat before, but know he was even ditching their common band activities like late night drinking sessions, binge-watching shows etc. Maybe it was just him growing up and struggling to find his own personal space… but Ashton couldn’t shake off the feeling, that something was the matter, because he had literally changed overnight.

Ashton had no idea what was going in in the band, but he knew he didn’t like it and he made it his personal mission to make at all better!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its short and kinda sad, but the next one will be worth it!   
> Love you  
>  LM


	16. Adelaide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, things getting a tiny bit more complicated in Adelaide.

They were finishing the Australian leg of their tour and there was just one more city to play before moving to the US, where they were going to shoot the music video to their first single on SGFG album. They had one free evening in Adelaide before moving on to Perth though, which they planned on spending having as much fun as possible. There was some feeling of youth and exuberance in partying in their homeland, maybe it had something to do with the fact, that it was the country where they had experienced all their teenage first, first sloppy kisses, first gawky make out sessions in someone’s backyard, first drinks, first hangovers … you can name it! They somehow felt more free to behave like their younger selves when coming back here! At least it was how Michael felt.

For the guitarist, the city of Adelaide carried even more personal importance than to the others. It was the city in which he had his very first kiss. He would later claim that it in no way was his first kiss, making up a story about an imaginary girl and equally imaginary petting behind a not so imaginary movie theater, he had been on date once, just this once! Let’s see, even if no one believed it, it was still very much less awkward than admitting that his first kiss was fucking Luke Hemmings!

Well, he had nothing against the slightly chubby awkward kid wearing very weird glasses, well, he didn’t even know that much about him back than, except taht his mom was a teaching at the school. Other than that he seemed pretty boring and uninteresting and Michael probably wouldn’t think twice about him if it wasn’t for the ill fated trip to Adelaide. Luke was one of the youngest there because it was primarily meant for older students and he only got in because his mom was one of the teachers in charge of organizing the whole trip and he really wanted to go. On the other hand, Michael really didn’t want to go, and he only agreed to it because Calum and his own parents ganged up on him and practically forced him to sign up. Calum wanted to have his best friend with him, and The Cliffords thought it would make him some good to socialize a little bit.

He remembered being actually surprised how much he enjoyed the trip, he also remembered sneaking out with Calum and some other guys the first night to get to a club, but failing miserably, because of course the were caught and as a result banned from the night city sight-seeing the next day. Instead they were supposed to stay in their rooms and have an early night in with the few younger students, who also couldn’t come. It didn’t turn out half as bad tough, because almost all teachers were out too, so they made use of it and managed to smuggle some beer inside, then gathered in one of the rooms on the sly.

They were all still kids back then so they basically got drunk after few sips of beer and as the night wore on someone suggested to play spin the bottle, of course he did! So they did ! Michael recalled there was a big argument about the rules, because of course everyone had their own rules, which were the only right ones! In the end they somehow managed to agree on some compromise which was that if the bottle pointed at someone, he or she could either answer a question which was decide before or  spin again an kiss whoever the bottle pointed to, which could be a win if there was a hot girl, or a great loss if there was someone terrible there…

Michael didn’t get pointed at very often, he was lucky like that, well, he wouldn’t mind to kiss the pretty girl in pale violet top, which she probably stole from her older sister or someone, because it was a bit too big for her and the cleavage hanged a bit too low…showed a bit too much… which 13 year old Michael found absolutely perfect!

Well, as always luck wasn’t on his side. Because someone came up with the idea of asking Luke about what his mom wore to  bad, because obviously it was sooo funny to imagine their teacher in a satin negligée. Luke blushed and almost impossible shade red  (Michael haven’t really seen anyone blushing so hard before) and absolutely refused to answer. Back than Michael thought it was pretty cute how shy he was, nowadays Michael knew he wasn’t as much shy as upright and well mannered. He was really looking forward to see who the kiddo would draw to kiss, and he was so ready to laugh at his friend if it was Calum. well they say that karma exist, that it you wish something bad upon someone it would come back to you. Back then it proved to be right. Because Michael was the one who ended up at the wrong end of the bottle.

He was positively mortified. He could see the same terror in the eyes of the blond haired boy, who somehow got even redder and his hole face started to sweat… gross!

It couldn’t be truth, he won’t get his first kiss form this weird nerdish boy, who looked like he graduated kinder garden last year. No way.

“ Just fucking tell them what she wears. It doesn’t matter.” He tried to persuade him.

Just fucking make up something , who cares. He pleaded in his mind trying to mentally transfer the message to the boys brain. To no avail.

“ I cant. “ Luke mumbled and Michael palmed his head.

Calum next to him started giggling and  make a kissing face at him. Someone started chanting “ kiss him, kiss him!” Michael felt his cheeks burning up too.

Luke started leaning in and the reality finally dawned upon Michael, that  he in fact wont be able to cop out of this one! He took a deep breath and brace himself reluctantly moving  forward. He didn’t remember much of the kiss, it was barely a descent kiss, just quick smack of lips before they both jumped away their faces wearing matching expressions of disgust.

“How was your first kiss, Hemmmo? “ some dickhead had the nerves to ask.

Luke shuddered as if there were spiders running down his back. “ Fucking disgusting, when was the last time you brushed your teeth? “ he said rudely.

Michael blushed again, because what the hell? The girl in violet burst out laughing and the 13 year old Michael felt like digging a deep hole and burry himself in it. Everyone was doubling up with laughter at his expense and nowadays he knew they didn’t really try to be mean and his current would probably join them laughing, back then he wasn’t self-confident enough to understand it though. He remembered feeling absolutely humiliated.

And also absolutely mad at that stupid blue eyed kid, with fucking stupid glasses, who couldn’t tell one fucking lie about his moms pajamas, stole his first kiss and then had the audacity to bad mouth his dental hygiene.

If someone told him at that moment taht few years later he would make a band with this moron, he would personally dig grave for him and buried him in in it- alive!

He hadn’t forgot Luke’s name after that, he hated him with deep passion, and barely went a day without him mentioning the damned Hemmings fag!  He probably gave Luke much more shit that the poor kiddo deserved for one stupid line, but to back than Michael it made perfect sense, that Luke became his numero uno enemy.

Curent Michael couldn’t help but smiled at the irony of it all. He and Luke actually became band mates and best friends in the end, even though he still called him names sometimes, just for the fun of it. The kiss, if you even could call it that, was long forgotten. Well, Michael somehow remembered it today, as they were planning the evening in Adelaide. He wondered, if Luke thought of it too.

He remembered hating Adelaide when leaving it at the end of the trip, maybe this time, he would get a chance to get some new better memories. He had a plan. The plan had nothing to do with Luke Hemmings, and had everything to do with Calum Hood. Because … surprise, surprise… he and the omega hadn’t really talked about what happened in the hospital after he got burn ever since, and as much as he tried to give him some space and time, the alpha was starting to have a weird sense of deja-vous, and he really didn’t want to end up locked up in his hotel room again with pissed of looking calum glaring at him like it had been all his fault. And  he could tell Ashotn was already circling around them, smelling something fishy, because he was a fucking pointing dog when it came to sniffing out problems and Michael for the sake of remains of hid dignity didn’t want to make it that far that the other half ofhis band would have to get involved again.

So he decided to be the brave one this time and make a move. His plan was simple… make Calum a bit drunk ( not too much to be pissed, but enough to make him more at ease and less capable to make excuses and run away) , get him alone, and make him talk!

He remembered well Lukes advice on approaching the omega. “ _I think you ve got a chance with him, if you don’t pressure him too much.”_ He said and Michael really didn’t want to pressure the omega, but at the same time he felt he deserved at least some explanation, some hint or some clue, just something to know where he stood and what he should do.

Even if the truth was that was to Calum it was just a spur of the moment  and there was nothing more to it than that, nor there was a desire to make it into something more, Michael wanted to know. He needed to know, because the current situation was literally killing him. He was trying to give the omega his much desired space, but at the same time while pampering  same faint hope he still tried to show him his favor. For whoever who ever tried to be really nice to someone without being too nice to strike him as annoying and obsessed, Michael felt deeply sorry, because it simply sucked.

He used to be patient and  had drawn himself a line between him and calum, between being friends and something more, and he forbid himself from even nearing the line. And then Calum came and leapt over it and without explaining a thing or even acknowledging the fucked up situation he disappeared on him again and left Michael there confused and unsure what was expected form him now. Should he behave like nothing happened? Should he take it as calums way to show him that he was now open to dating alphas and ask him out? Even though asking out someone you spend most of the time with anyway would be pretty weird, but whatever, Michael would take him to fancy restaurants when they had a day off if he wanted, he would find some time for a nice walk on a beach if that was what calum desired for. Hell, he would even kick Luke and Ashton of the back room, and make them pretend they weren’t on the bus at all to have some indoor rendezvous with calum binge watching some show or whatever ! He would do anything for calum, anything, if he knew it was at least not completely uninvited.

Sadly he didn’t see into Calums head and if someone was a master of not telling things, it was the very omega he was in love with. Just his fucking luck. Wouldn’t it be much easier, if he fell in love, lets say with Luke? Lets pretend he would be the omega for a minute. Luke couldn’t hide a thing if they paid him for it, with Luke what you saw was what you got, you could read him like a book.

(Lets just say Michael wasnt the brightest when it came to assess human character. )

So Michael decided that Calum had had enough time to collect his thoughts and make up his mind. He would man up and ask him point blank, what was their relationship to him. There was no point in beating around the bush. This time he wont let him bolt and he will demand answers, even if they weren’t what he wanted to hear.

It turned out to be easier said than done. Michael was pretty confident he would be able to get rid of their two bandmates to get some time alone with Calum. Luke would spend half of the time hanging on his phone anyway and Ashton brought Bryana with him, because she was having some photo shoot in here, so she popped in to see her boyfriend.

But.. of course there was a but! There always was a but, when it came to Michaels love life! The State Champs made up their mind and decided to hang out with them anyway despite formally planning on moving to Perth in advance. And to the top of that around 10 pm Jack ( Lukes fucking brother) emerged out of nowhere, because of course he had some business in Adelaide so he turned up to say hi to his brother or whatever.

And while Calum for some reason, which Michael would find suspicious any other time but not today, didn’t really seem very eager to socialize with Jack Hemmings, he had a really good time hanging out with Luke and the boys form State Champs, at least someone unacquainted with current situation could think so. From where mIchael was standing, calum was simply doing his best to no to stay alone with Michael for more than few seconds. And was making a fucking good job.

Michael gave it up in the end and found himself sitting at the bar drinking alone, like a Grinch at Christams Eve, probably wearing equally pleased expression.  He was grumpily watching his other bandmates have fun, well maybe except Luke who was nowhere to be seen, probably out front having another “ interesting” over the phone conversation with his girlfriend.

He was of course right because few minutes later Luke slipped through he door with a phone in his hand, Michael watched him looking over the club, seemingly contemplating on whether to join the guys in the dancing area but then deciding against it and aiming to the bar instead.

“ Hi.” He said to him.

Luke looked up from his phone meeting Michaels eyes, for some reason kinda lighting up, or was it just michaels imagination?

“ Hi. What you doing here?” he asked.

Michael just picked up his drink as if it was expressive enough.

Luke just nodded. Unknown to the alpha, he actually understood his situation pretty well, thanks to the fact,  that he had unintentionally witnessed what had happened back in London.

“ How is your brother doing? “

Luke gave him a sour look  and obviously not very happy about sudden appearance of his brother. “ Fortunately, he has to drive early in the morning.. so cant get smashed. “ he said a looked so pathetic  that it made Michael feel actually better.

Michael chuckled. Somehow talking to Luke always made him feel better. It was easy, natural in a way, he didn’t have to try very hard to make himself better, he wondered if it was because Luke had been a close witness to the worst part of Michaels personality for quite some time before they learnt to tolerate each other, and still the beta somehow managed to forgive for him all this, or maybe just managed  to throw it back skillfully and laugh it out. Michael felt like he could just be himself with him, he didn’t have to make himself better or nicer, it made him feel strangely at peace… well, at least sometimes. Sometimes Luke just unbelievably pissed him off and he just wanted to kick his ass up to mars and never see him again.

Sometimes he just felt like teasing Luke, even that was easy with the beta. Luke was quick to get mad, but also quick to let go, he didn’t hold grudge like Ashton.

The beta was again glued to the display of his phone. Michael sighed. “How many girlfriends do you have again? Sure takes  a lot of time to please them all.”

Luke gave him a look. “ You just jealous. When was the last time you even got laid?” he snapped at the alpha.

And well, touché,  its been a while actually. Actually more than a year. Luke looked like it had just dawned on him too…

“ Sorry.. “ he started to apologize clumsily.

Michael stopped him before it could get awkward “ forget it.” then a thought popped up in his mind.

“ actually I might get lucky today, I have a history of getting lucky in this very city.”

Luke looked at him obviously quite baffled. It seemed to take him even more time to get this hint but Michael could see him blush vividly when it finally settled.

“ Shut up, it was ages ago! Jeez.” The beta was getting even redder. Michael laughed, no matter how much the Hemmo changed, he was still  having the most awkward blush!

Michael chuckled. “maybe we could repeat it this time, just to carry on the tradition of course!”

Luke for some reason seemed genuinely  embarrassed, Michael was totally prepared to tease him about it, but as he was about to say somethign Luke brother joined them at the bar.

“ Have you seen , calum? I have to go already and I wanted to talk to him.”

Michael gave him a suspicious look, but waited for Lukes reaction, but the beta just ignored his brother completely.

“No. Gotta go to the bathroom.”  With that he downed his drink and dashed away in the direction of the restroom.

“ Is he ok? “ Jack asked.

Michael shrugged; he didn’t know more than Jack did.

“ Why do you want to talk to Calum? “ he asked instead. Jack just shot him a weird look. “ I don’t actually… just.. Anyway, I have to go already. Say hi to the guys, ehm,  good like with the tour , bye…” Michael opened his mouth but the older Hemmings was already gone.

And what?!?  What was wrong with the Hemmings today??? Was it a national Hemmings weird day? Like if you are a Hemmmings, be as weird as possible today? Oh, who he was kidding, they had always been weird!

Michael finished his drink too and made his way to the State Champs. He had noticed Calum wasn’t among them anymore and it had made him a little worried.

“Hey, have you seen calum?” he asked then added unnecessarily, just to look less like worried mother hen.” Jack is looking for him.”

“ well, he want for a smoke with that  guy…”

Michael froze. What guy!?! Well, he knew the omega was sneaking around having a durrie now and then, he wasn’t t really as smooth as he thought he was. But going for a smoke with some strange guy!! What was he thinking,.. it could be some kind of creep or perv.

“ What guy?”

Derek just shrugged. “ Don’t know, he met him here. Don’t worry, hes a big guy.”

“ yeah, thanks. “

“ I think they are around the back.” Even helped him. Michael smiled gratefully at the other alpha.

In the meantime Jack kept looking for Calum but only found Ashton with Bryna in his lap, almost falling asleep with her head drowsily leant on his shoulder.

“ Ashton…”

“ Oh … Jack. Hi..” Ashton slurred clearly a little tipsy.

“ hi… ehmm I have been looking for Calum, but I couldn’t find him, so… could you tell him Im sorry for the last time. I know  I should have called or something but I really wanted to tell him in person, but he seemed to be so.. busy today, and than  he got lost…”

Ashton seemed  less  and less drunk with every word that left jacks mouth.

“ so just tell him I am sorry for what happened, I know better know.”

“ WHAT .. happened?” Ashton seemed completely sober now. “ And what do you mean Calum got lost? “

“ well… I thought, Luke told you, I mean, he said he wouldn’t , but he could never keep a secret. Not once…”

“ ---“

“ He really didn’t? Oh… oh, Fuck!”

“ WHAT HAPPENED? “ ashton raised his voice, and it roused Bryana form her slumber.  
“ What’s up baby?”

Ashton ignored her. “ What happened? “

“ Well..” jack started and then reluctantly  went on to tell the story…

Meanwhile in the back…

Michael didn’t now what he was expecting when he was walking through the back door to the small backside area behind the club.

But it sure as hell wasn’t seeing their bassist passionately snogging some unknown guy, tall dark haired and judging by his smell very much alpha. The guy who was currently having his lips sealed to calums,  one hand behind calums neck slightly pulling him in and the second one  stroking over the omegas slightly round hips. The first instinct that rose in Michael was to surge forward and rip the fucker away from his omega, but on the second thought… he could see Calum actually pushing the alpha away, the guy swaying slightly, obviously way drunker than the omega himself, who actually giggled at that.  Calum didn’t look drunk at all, the alpha wasn’t trying to get his hands on him against his will, actually calum looked very much into it.   It looked like completely normal consensual making out session behind the club, surely not the first one these walls had experienced. Which meant… that no matter how much he wanted to, Michael had actually no right to interfere!

As if sensing he was being watched, Calum turn around, his eyes immediately widening as he spotted his bandmate. He swiftly pushed the other alpha away, uselessly trying to smoothen his clothes to  make the situation look less… terrible? Awkward? Painful? Michael just shrugged and without saying anything he span around and walked away.

He shuffled through the club and out on the street. He didn’t care where he was walking, only knew it was very vaguely into the direction of the hotel they were staying in. Maybe.

As he was walking down an unknown street, he found the word he had been looking for. Humiliated. Humiliated was how he felt. And fool he was .. if he thought that after al the success and fame he couldn’t feel like this anymore, like 13 year old being laughed at in fucking Adelaide. And well, he had his answers, and he didn’t even have to talk to Calum.

He blamed the city, they say that places as much as people have their own souls, some genius loci,  he didn’t know what he did to genius loci of Adelaide, but he sure pissed him off! Cause the city sure didn’t like him!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dont kill me for this one, it will get better I swear.. well, Ashton will make it better, of course!  
> Next time - Ashton, the drummer ex machina!


	17. Shes Kinda Hot I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little tasting of the next chapter, I couldnt resist!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to thank you all for all those wonderful comments! You are really amazing, people.   
> Love you   
> LM

 They were supposed to shoot the Shes Kinda Hot video the day after tomorrow. It was a big deal for them, especially for Ashton, because it was his song. Originally he was to sing  it all himself, later they changed it up but it still remained _the drummers song_ , Ashton had put a lot into this one, and it had already become his favorite song. He loved the concept of it, like that it was establishing some movement that all of their fans were invited to be part of. Something that was purely and solely 100 percent 5SOS.

Also the music video was to be fucking amazing. They had already made some preparations, their  own Mad Max Vehicle was almost done, prepared to carry them. Ashton had been looking for this for a long time, it was a fucking huge deal for him! And that’s why he was less than impressed that the current mood in the band was close to depressing.

They had rented an apartment in LA to stay in while shooting the video. They had initially really looked forward to spending some time together in LA, except everything went kinda to shit after all the drama that happened lately. Now they were more ready to shoot some depressing emo thing, something Kurt Kobain style about how everything sucked and life was terrible!

That wasn’t how it was supposed to go, and wasn’t how it would go, if Ashton had something to say to it! They weren’t that kind of band, they were supposed  to give away love and happiness and overall uplifting attitude, not a depressing teenage drama. Moreover the current atmosphere wasn’t doing anyone much good, so Ashton as the oldest in the band kinda felt compelled to do something about that! He was never one to sit back and wait for things to happen! He wouldn’t be a drummer in a  band doing world tour if he did. So he decided to take some action, he would make his band mates stop brooding and talk out whatever issues they had with each other, even if he had to kick their asses and tie them down.

First he took the easiest one. Luke. The beta had been distancing himself from the rest of the band for long enough and Ashton wasn’t stupid, he could pretty much tell from where the wind was blowing. He also knew that … the “ I have to call my girlfriend” bullshit was just excuse for not having to talk to them. It was fine to need some himself time from time to time, if it wasn’t all the time.

The beta was currently hiding in his room. Ashton gave a loud knock and went in. Luke was lying in his bed headphones covering his eyes, apparently just killing time. Perfect.

“Hi, Luke. Wanna tell me, what’s up with you lately? “

The beta frowned and just shrugged his shoulders. “ Noth…”

“ Bullshit. “ ashton didn’t even let him finish the obvious lie and invited himself into his bed.” I know theres been something bugging you. You kinda forget, that I ve  known you for… how many years has it been? I fucking suck at math… anyway… I know theres been something eating you up!”

 Luke put away the headphones and sat up on the bed, folding his legs under himself. He hadn’t said anything but didn’t look so determined to claim he was okay anymore. Good.

“ So.. tell me. Common, you can tell me anything. I promise I won’t judge.. I won’t even tell the guys.”

“ Well… I saw Michael and Calum…” and well it wasnt what ashton had been expecting to hear. But it immediately caught his attention.

“ Saw them where?”

“ At the hospital, they were kissing. They were kissing, in front of the doctors office. Before you found us there. “

“ They were kissing?  But you said, you hadn’t found them..”

“ I lied, I didn’t know what to say… I am sorry.”

Wow, Ashotn didn’t really know what to think about that. But it actually explained a few things, for example why Michael and Calum had been dancing around each other like skittish chickens lately.

Ashton tried his best to let  his own emotions out of this, but it was easier said than done.

“ and what….how they were kissing.”

Luke gave him a weird look. “ I don’t know just kissing.” He seemed pretty annoyed now.

“ Look, I know you have a crush on him.”

Luke looked up at him. “ What?!? I don’t… of course I don’t! Hes an alpha for fuck sake.”

Ashton gave him an non impressed look. “ And how do you know I was talking about Michael? Hn? “ Luke gulped and blushed like a tomato.

“ Common, calm down. I wont tell him, ok? “

“ Its just, its just … that he is so… I don’t know, I don’t think I am in love with him or something.” Luke laughed at the obvious ridiculousness of such thought.

“ Its just that…”

“ You are attracted to him.”

“ Yeah…kinda, I don’t know. ”

“ Its natural, he is pretty hot…. Just saying. You don’t have to feel ashamed about that.”

“ But  I am an alpha…”

“ Yeah, but sexual attraction is unpredictable. You don’t necessarily have to fall in love with someone to be attracted to them.”

“ I am definitely not in love with him!”

“ Good. One lovesick idiot in the band is enough.”

Luke let out a loud laugh. “ Do you think they are together now? “

“ Calum and Michael, I don’t think so. They are dealing with their issues in their usual way.. that is… doing nothing at all. God forbid, they should talk about it.” Ashton carried on sarcastically.

Luke sighed. He had been mortified when Ashotn admitted he knew about his secret, but now he somehow felt better, like the weight was lifted form his shoulder, also he was glad that ashton obviously  shared the same opinion about Lukes feelings, that it was only fleeting infatuation. Probably caused by the fact that Michael and Luke spent so much time together, they were pretty close and had a lot of things in common and Luke kinda looked up to him!

“ Luke? “

“ Yaeh?”

“ You and Calum are pretty close. Do you think, he might have some genuine feeling towards Michael? “

Luke was taken a bit unaware by this question. “ I .. we don’t talk about this stuff much, but.. I don’t think so.. . I think he just finds him hot  because his an alpha and stuff. But its hard to tell, its calum, you know.”   


Ashton sighed. “ Yeah , I know. “

“ Could you maybe… talk to him about that? Ask him whether he takes it seriously or not? He might open up to you easier than to me.”

“ Ok. Absolutely.  I will… “ Luke felt a bit nervous about it, but also strangely excited to know the answer.

“Thanks. “ ashton slapped Lukes thigh playfully. “ and Luke? “

“ yeah?”

“ you are a good friend you know? covering for calum with the jack incident and stuff… just saying.”

“ What? Calum told you? “

“ Nope. Your brother kinda confessed himself… apparently he thought you had already rat on him.”

“ Idiot..”

“ well, I am glad he did, I wouldt probably  find out otherwise..” now ashton sounded a bit reproachful.

Luke blushed again. “ sorry, I promised calum and jack not to tell anyone. You mad?”

“ Nah, not at you.”

That was the easiest part of the task, Ashton was quite satisfied how it went, but was well aware the trickier part was still ahead. Especially after what Luke told him.

Michael was playing some game in his room. Ashton wasn’t really surprised because it was what he had been mostly doing ever since they came here.

“ You have a second?”

“ Yup, what’s up? “ Michael paused the game. “ You ok?”

“ Oh, I am just fine.” Ashton hesitated a second contemplating where to go from here , in the end deciding to choose the direct approach and lay it all on table.

“ Are you and Calum together? “ he looked the other alpha straight in the eye.

“ What… wait, wait… of course not, what gave you the idea? “ Michael looked completely baffled.

Ashton shrugged. “ Maybe the fact that you are obviously think it a good idea to make out in public places?“  he didn’t mean it to sound so …hostile, but he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t like the idea of it.

“ What are you talking about? “ Michael visibly paled, his game forgotten.

“ Oh common, don’t take me for an idiot. Luke told me about the hospital.”

“ what? Wait.. Luek told you! He knows? “

“ Yeah, he saw you.. you didn’t know that? “

“ No, I didn’t know anyone did.”

“ oh, thats great Michael. A plus job there. If someone form the press saw you out there, you wouldn’t even know, until your photos where all over internet.”

Michaels expression hardened. “ Shut up, we are not that fucking famous. No one cares!”

Ashton had really wanted to be nicer, going all offensive wont solve a thing. I t would just make Michael retract back into his shell. He was Micahels friend too, but it was hard, since they were both alphas, and they both had feelings for Calum. Even though ashton was convinced that for the sake of the band, neither of tem should actually date the omega. Calum deserved to have some normal relationship.  But as far as Michael and calum were concerned, he couldn’t really tell them what to do.

The drummer took a deep breath to calm himself down and sat down on the edge of michaels bad.”

“ Look, I don’t want to argue. Okay? Just… we have a hell of a job to do with the video, and things aren’t good in the band… no… don’t argue, you know they are not. You and calum are just … Its not working okay? So just tell me, are you dating or not? “

Michael was having a staring contest with the floor. “ Its not just us buddy. Luke is..”

“ Ive talked to Luke. Its dealt with. He has… his issues, he will shake it off. To be honest.. he is the one I am least concerned with right know.”

Michael looked up at ashton with a bittersweet smile on.

“ We are definitely not dating. And we didnt make out… it was a kiss, just one kiss, probably clausm way of consoling an injured friend or whatever.” Ashton didn’t miss the hurt undertone in the alphas voice.

“ So.. I assume.. you talked about it..”

Michael gave a dramatic sigh, throwing his hands in the air.

“ Oh, here we go again. No, we didn’t , but I am pretty sure where I stand in this , okay? “

Ashotn swallowed a sarcastic remark  and took a few deep breath instead.

“ and you are so sure because???”

“ because Calum obviously doesn’t really think twice about kissing someone, he is not really… ehm …picky..”

“ and what’s that supposed to mean..” ashton kinda lost the battle to try to sound nice and understanding this time.

“ I don’t know, ask him yourself, I don’t even know the name of the guy..”

“ The one he had been dancing with at athe club?” Michael smirked, so ashton DID notice after all.

“ yah, yeah, dancing and other things.”

“ Like what?”

“ I don’t know, seriously ask calum.  I don’t care. “ Michael turn back to the screen. “ are we done here? “

Ashton frowned but didn’t give up. “ How do you know there was more than dancing? “

“ I saw them at the back, but seriously idont know how far it went, I went home early, remember? If you are soo interested…. Ask calum. I don’t know and I really don’t care.

“ yeah like hell you don’t..” ashotn muttered.

“ What?”

“ nothing.” The conversation with Michael didn’t really go the way he had expected.

AShotn gave another sigh. “ Just… fuck, you should talk to him.”

“ Why? I am pretty sure his parents already gave him the talk. “

“Not about that! Stop being  difficult.”

“ Yeah, I am the difficult one.”

“ Right now , yeah. Look… I get it, you don’t like him being with other people. But as far ashe is careful you cant really tell him what to do and with whom!”

“ did I say something?”

“ Listen..”

“ No , you listen! I don’t care, I mean it. He can fuck a whole cavalry for all I care, I don’t give a fuck.  and I won’t get in a way. You get it?”

Ashton rubbed his face, there was really no point in prolonging the conversation, when Michael was being this stubborn, ashtons nerves were getting rather thin here too, and he didn’t want to say something that would make it even worse.

“ Just don’t fuck the video up okay? “

“ fuck , how did you know what I was up to? “

“ Michael…”

“ ok, ok, don’t worry. I like that song too, you know? “

“Ok.”

“Ok.”

Ashton left the room with significantly worse spirits then he came in , but at least he had some new information to go with. It looked like he wont avoid the talk with Calum though.e can he can he can makehh

 

 


	18. Shes Kinda Hot II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too tired to write summary...

Calum was actually surprised that he was the first one to get out of bed, it didn’t happen to him a lot. He made himself some toasts and was enjoying eating by himself for once when Ashton came into the kitchen.

“Morning.” He greeted the omega, with a bright smile on. How he managed to always look so happy right after waking up always baffled Calum, he himself needed at least half an hour to start up. Luke and Michael were even worse.

“ Morning. Decided to sleep in today?”

“ Nah, already been up for some time, kinda woke up early today and couldn’t go back to sleep.”

Calum frowned, if something was making Ashton lose sleep, it definitely wasn’t a good a sign. His knew something was up and was right, because next moment Ashton sat down to the table for once skipping comments about calums unhealthy breakfast, and cleared his throat with a load cough.

“ So… have you talked to Michael lately?” the drummer started innocently and Calum already wanted to make a bolt for it.

“ Yes, we are talking all the time. What are you getting at?” calum asked even though had a very good guess what was the drummer getting at.

Ashton looked away for a second and started drumming his fingers on the table, he suddenly seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

“ Look, Cal, you know you can talk to me, don’t you? “

“ Of course, but..”

“ Please, just listen. I know, I was behaving a bit…like a possessive idiot, when you presented and I am sorry for that.”

“ Ash, its really ok.”

“ No its not, just I haven’t expected it. And the way I found out wasn’t well ideal, either.”

 Calum could feel his cheeks burning up, which was tell tale sign of a nice blush forming there. “ well, it wasn’t. sorry for that.” He mumbled.

“ Don’t, don’t be sorry, that’s not what I wanted to discuss. Just… want you to understand , that even though I behaved  a bit like a jerk for some time, I am still your friend. I want you to know, you can talk to me about anything. That you can trust me. “ Ashton raised his eyes from the table and gave and fixed tahm on Calum clearly showing how much  it actually mattered to him, that Calum believed him.

The omega nodded. “ I know I can trust you. Really, you are probably the most trustworthy person I know.”

“ Good.” Ashton put on his trademark smile. “ So, tell me, what’s going on between Michael and you.

Calum froze, it was too late to bolt now. He knew, he should have run, when he had a chance.

“ I … we are friends, I mean there is not much going on.”

“ Calum!”  there was something in the way ashton said it, that made the omega flinch a little. It wasn’t an alpha voice but it was close to it.

The omega shuffled around on the chair. “ He… something happened and now, things are weird.

Ashotn actually let out a chuckle at that. “Sweetheart, you may not believe it , but I have  noticed that things are weird. That why we have this conversation.”

Calum blushed harder, a bit offended by the way Ashton treated him. He folded his arms over his chest. “ We will figure it out, don’t worry.”

Ashton just sat there giving calum that weird searching  look again, the omega for a moment though that was the end of the conversation, but he should have known he won’t get out so easy.

“Why did you kiss him?”

Calum spat out the coffee he was drinking.

“ Excuse me?”

“ You kissed him at the hospital, Luke saw you, and you just said, you trust me, so please, please just be honest with me. “ Ashtons voice was calm and almost  gentle, but at same time he sounded so determined, that Calum understood there was no way he would let go of the topic. And there was something about Ashton when he was talking like this that make Calum lose his usual composure and stubbornness. It was the same with the heat in Chicago and with the suppressants. Calum could feel his protective walls crumbling.

“ I … I don’t know why I did it. I … it was a mistake.I dint really mean to do that, it just happened.”

Ashton seemed to analyze everything he said. “ So you don’t plan on having a relationship with him? The alpha probed further.

“ No. Its … I will really figure it out, okay? I will deal with it. You don’t have to worry about me..”

Ashton leant his elbows against the table and fixed his eyes on the omegas face again. “Cal… I am not worried about you, I know you can take care of yourself. Just, Michael is my friend too and forgive me, if I am wrong, but I don’t think he is kinda on the same page in this.”

Calum just gaped at the alpha and immediately felt ashamed. It didnt even occur to him, that the drummer could worry about Michael.  He felt like a bad friend afte, very bad friend indeed.

“Cal…” Ashton decided to carry on, when he saw the omega was struggling with response. “ I know, its been difficult for you, I know  that you weren’t exactly jumping to the roof when you presented as omega and I know, that you hate being not in control of your stuff and being told what to do… but if you don’t want a serious relationship with Michael, you have to tell him. You have to let him move on.”

Calum felt really small and kinda lost, Ashton didn’t really tell anything, he wouldnt have guessed himself, but hearing it from someone else made him feel like even bigger tool. He never wanted to hurt his friend, he just…lately his hormones were making him fucking crazy. Like his body started actually processing all the omega business and he was growing more into his status, sometimes he just couldn’t help himself thinking about how it would be to feel it again to be taken by an alpha, to be touched at all the right places, to feel satisfied. First he only experienced these yearnings when in heat, he almost felt like schizophrenic, when out of heat he felt just like plain old beta Calum.  But lately hes been having these thoughts out of heat too. He sometimes couldn’t help but remember the one time he actually had sex with Michael, when he was looking at the alpha. Just some subtle gestures of his, like licking on his fingers after eating a slize a pizza made hi stomach turn, because he still remembered how the alpha looked like licking off his own slick of them.

Still, the bassist was pretty sure he wasn’t ready for a serious relationship, definitely not with his band mate. Maybe some dating and stuff, like sex of course, not heat sex, just regular uncomplicated normal love making.

Calum sighed, somehow in between having these thoughts and feeling ashamed about them later he became a cardinal asshole of a friend, a bigger one because he actually was aware of the feelings Michael had for him, and he still stringed him along, even if not with any cruel intentions.

“ you are right, I am terrible..” calum whispered his voice sounding strangely choked.

Ashton sighed. ”are you sure you don’t want to date Michael? “

Calum looked up at at the other alpha but was met with a ashotn poker face. The drummer was the only one in the band better at hiding his emotions than the omega himself.

“ I am sure, I don’t feel like that about him. I just…”  he trailed off, not really sure how to convey that he wanted to fuck the alpha, without any strings attached, but ahsotn seemed to get it.

“ I get it, he makes you all hot and bothered.”  Ashton smirked obviously using the unnecessarily explicit words for a reason to make the omega embarrassed.

“ No need to sugarcoat it.” The omega blushed again.

“ No? So I will be completely honest. Talk to him, and I mean today, tell him the truth. And if possible try to keep your tongue out of his mouth.”

“ Ashton…” calum exclaimed, he was pretty sure he resembled a tomato by now.

“ What? That shouldn’t be so complicated, if you really don’t have any feelings for him. “

“ I don’t!” calum sounded really convincing, but to tell the truth he wasn’t really sure, there were definitely some feelings, he just wasn’t sure what they were, because he through the sudden hormonal turmoil it was hard to judge and than there was Luke… the possible future alpha, his dream alpha who kept stealing his heart at the most inappropriate moments.

“ Good, so tell him what you told me and let him move on.” Ashton emphasized again.

“ I will… today.” Calum promised, Ashton was probably the only person on the whole planet that made him play along so quickly. Calum really hated being pushed into something and he rather burnt himself than listened to other peoples advices. Only ashton somehow knew how to make him budge.

“ also, maybe you should keep… your, ehmm… interests, out of his sight. Its kinda cruel. At least until he gets over you.”

Calum gasped. “ you know THAT too? “

The drummer gave a nod. “ Yeah, Michael told me. Don’t look at me like this, its not like you asked him to keep it secret, did you? “

Calum pouted a little. H couldnt help but feeling a bit betrayed. And how the hell did Ashton always read so quickly.

“ Just be careful, ok? Not everyone is… so nice, there are some people who could take advantage of the situation. “

Calum kept frowning and ashotn kicked his leg under the table.

“ Just promise _daddy_   you will be careful , it will make me sleep better.”

Calum couldn’t help but chuckle. “ please don’t say that _ever again_.”

“what?“ ashton played innocent

“ whatever , I promise I will be careful. “

“ and you wont go alone anywhere when close to heat.”

“ Ok… I will not go anywhere when close to heat.”

“ and you wont go out with alphas you don’t know without telling someone first.”

“ you are pushing it.”

“ ok, at least a message. Please? “

“ Ok, I swear ashton. Anything else? You didn’t buy me a microchip, did you?”

“ Nope, that’s enough for me.  I am Quite satisfied. Common, it wasnt that bsd, you look like I just made you to run a amarathon.”

“ I wish.”

“ O  common, come here. “ ashton stood up and spread his arms, inviting the omega into u hug.” Calum resisted for like 5 seconds before giving in and taking the few steps to ashton to be pulled into a firm hug. Only when he felt the alphas arms closing around his body, he felt like it was something he  longed for a long time, he felt calm and safe like it was something he needed and didn’t even know it.

It wasn’t long before the alpha pushed him away, and calum couldn’t help but feel a sting of disappointment.

Later he actually had the talk with Michael, and it was the hardest fucking conversation he ever had to go through. Michael hadn’t really contributed much into it, he just stood there, now and then nodding his head, or saying something vague like “ I get it.” Or “ that’s true.” His whole demeanor seemed cold and detached, but Calum ( who had known him for the most of his life) could tell he was sad and felt worse and worse every minute of the conversation. But maybe he deserved to feel bad about it because honestly he was very likely just breaking his best and oldest friends heart, which wasn’t something that one should b proud of.

He apologized over and over, tried to explain the thing at the club and Michael seemed understanding but reserved,.

“ I am sorry.” He added one last time.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “ its how it is. “ he said.

“ so we are good then? “ calum asked. He wasn’t really sure, the conversation seemed more like a monologue, there wasn’t much feedback from the alpha.

“ we are good.” Michael smiled at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Calum felt terrible about that. Than he did the only thing that came to his mind at that moment and that was that he moved forward and without thinking wrapped his arms around the alpha. “ I don’t want to lose my best friend.” He could feel Michel tense up and for a second he was scared that he would push him aw ay, but in the end the alpha hugged him back and muttered into his hair.

“ What am I supposed to do with you?”

Calum felt like there was black cloud disappearing from above his head.

………

Luke was a bit nervous about the whole Shes kinda hot video, but not because of the video. First, he hadn’t talked with Calum yet and because Ashton kinda failed to mention, that he had already talked to the omega himself he still felt the pressure of the inevitable conversation he would have to have with the omega. Second, he kinda overheard Ashton talking to Michael the other day, not that he was eavesdropping behind the door, absolutely not, he just slowed down a little while going back from bathroom and passing by michaels room. Anyway he was just in time to overhear ashton mentioning that Michael knew about Luke seeing him at the hospital, so now Luke was nervous about being around Michael too, great. It was so stupid, why did his two band mates have to start something, couldn’t they just find someone else, it was so complicated. First he thought he wouldn’t mind it, but on the second thought, it wasn’t such a good idea, if they couldn’t handle talking about one hook up, how would they handle a break up? It wouldn’t break the band, but it sure would make things really uncomfortable.

He really felt like he should try to stop the Malum from happening. Maybe if calum found someone else…

Anyway calum and Michael seemed in much better mood that day, and much less withdrawn, which was definitely good news, but at the same time, not so good news , because it could also mean they figured out whatever was between them and actually started dating.

As they were having a break from  the shooting, the beta saw Michael sitting under a tree  few meters away from the set. He decided to man up and walked up to him.

“ Hey, the weather is nice right?”

“ Its LA, the weather is always nice. “ Michael smirked and Luke actually felt relived the alpha was back to his snarky self. The bad sign was that he was adamantly looking anywhere else but at Luke.

As he was thinking about what to say next, a cameraman documenting the making of the video  came up to them asking them to say something funny for the camera,

Michael fortunately came up with something “ I feel like I am in a death race, we v got like the best vehicle ever.”

Luke caught up. “ We are in a death race but we gonna get slowded, bacause it looks very slow. “It actually made Michael laugh, which weirdly made Luke kinda proud.

. “ yeah, it pretty slow and also we are standing on top of that.”

The little success kinda motivated Luke and de decided not to put off things further and use the  little break for having a short talk with the omega, who was currently hiding inside of the fake house on the set.

The omega was pretty curious, snooping through all the dark corners of the house. When he spotted Luke who came searching for him, he blushed a little, He still felt pretty embarrassed about he fact, that the beat had witnessed his little failure at the hospital.

“ The video looks pretty  good. “ Luek started.

“ Yup.” Better than expected.

“ So, I noticed that you and Michael are talking again. You doing good? “ Luke mentally smacked himself, he was so bad at these conversation, maybe he should have declined when Ashton asked him to do that.

Calum looked  at the dirty floor. “ I am sorry, you had to see us at the hospital.”

“ Oh…you know about that? “

“ yes, I talked to ashton yesterday. Well he did most of the talking.”

Luke actually felt relived but also little pissed. “ and you and Michael?”

Calum scratched the back of his head. “we are friends… for good.”

“ But the kiss?”

“ It was… fuck, just a mishap? “

Luke didn’t say anything to that but felt a surge of sudden anger at the omega, because Michael sure as hell didn’t deserve to be called a mishap.”

He must have looked pretty angered too, (he should really train practice  his poker face , he was so fucking done with everyone being able  to read him so well).

The omega kinda covered and Luke felt like he had kicked a puppy.   
“ I didn’t mean it like that. We had already talked it out. “ calum peeped out, looking at the vocalist bashfully.

“ What are you doing here?” ashton appeared at the door.

“ Talking..” luke offered.

“ Welll, me and calum already had a nice chat.”

“ yeah, thanks for letting me know.” Luke snapped at him.

Ashotn grimaced. “ uuups.”

Calum looked at them disbelievingly. “ Hey, you totally ganged up on me. “

Ashton rather changed the topic and informed than that they would shoot a quick sketch about the house. He would play a soldier coming back from war looking for his wife.

They were improvising, no details were discussed and Calum nad Luke kinda made a secret deal not to let him into the house, even though they were supposed to, because why the hell not. Serve him right for being always so..mature about things, and in control in everything.

Ashton had to literally push through the door to get in, cursing the 2 little morons. That was what he got for making the band actually work. But secretly he was really happy that his band was back to their usual banter and pranking. And as for the future, he swore that he would never let any relationships get inbetween the 4 of them. Any dating or hooking up or whatever was allowed inside the band from now on!

As the evening approached Michael found himself again sitting at the fucking tree during another short break. He had hoped that this time he wont be interrupted, yet once again to no avail. The man with the kamera found him again, this time he was followed by Calum. The omega promptly threw his arms around him.

“ Hi buddy!” The little fucker.

“ We do this thing when we…say one word to each.”

“ No we don’t do that.”

“ I can read your mind,..”

“ ok, what was I gonna say..”

Calum pretended to so some mind reading.“ You were gonna say, I cant read you r mind..”

 And wow, it was so fucking stupid, that he actually had to laugh at that. Calum sure tried to make him feel better since they talked,  like he was dead set on being the best friend from now on.. Michael wasn’t actually sure  it was working. Well, maybe it was, but he felt like he shouldnt let the omega get out so easily after all that happened. After all it was calum who initiated the kiss at the hospital. He decided to tease the omega a little.

A good opening for a little revenge came just a moment later, when they were standing on the porch again and calum kinda played into his hands saying

“I don’t know what to do with these things usually…”

usually I have something to play on was surely what he meant to say, but the alpha swiftly interrupted him by   
“ wanna make out? “  he was actually enjoying the shock and embarrassment that very clearly showed on calums face. _“ Have you really said that?_ “ was written all over his face but he couldn’t find any words for the moment.

“Huh?”

“ wanna make out?”

“ I just gonna ignore what you just said.”

Luckily everyone thought it just a part of their usual banter. Calum knew he couldn’t really be mad at the alpha. He also tried to ignore the little flutter in his belly that he felt when the alpha baldly him ask to make out. Why was being an omega so hard, dammit!

The video turned out quite awesome in the end. Well except for the fact, that their super awesome vehicle kinda ran out of juice and got stuck at a crossroad, so they were even more “slowded” than Luke had expected.

When they were finally done, it was already 5 am, so no one could really blame them for being tired as hell. As they gathered their stuff and were leaving the set saying one last goodbye to the camera, they all had some hard stuff on their minds.

Michael couldn’t shake off the feeling, that there was still some fire in the way Calum was looking at him. Or was it just a wishful thinking?

Luke was making a mental list of all alpha he knew, that he could set up Calum with.

Calum couldn’t  help but double guess his decision to turn Michael down once and for all.

And Ashton had his mind set on that he would never ever again allow any relationship happen in the band, even if it meant he himself would never get a chance with Calum.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I wont have time to write anything for next few weeks, but I promise to move on with the story in the next chapter !


	19. Raleigh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calum gets laid, Michael gets drunk, Luke comes to the rescue.

Luke felt greatly relieved that Calum and Michael chose not to get on with their little affair. Still he was a bit mistrustful when it came to their ability to stick with that decision. Michael seemed to be still foolishly clinging to some string of hope, that he would one day manage to bring their bassist around, and he refused to give it up.

After recent events Luke came to conclusion that should the two of them carry on like this, it was only a matter of time before the history repeated itself and things went to shit again. In the worst case scenario they could be seen by someone else, someone out of the band and things could get even more complicated. The more he thought about that the more he felt like he was kinda obliged ( for the sake of the band) to take some measures to prevent a disaster from happening. He really didn’t have any ulterior motive on his mind when coming up with his plan, even though maybe deep down some hidden part of him welcomed the possibility of pushing the omega out of the way.  

The blonde was convinced that Michael won’t make a move on Calum unless he receives some signals from the omega. So the real problem wasn’t Michael but Calum, who obviously needed to get laid. Badly, because the way he had been staring at the alphas they had been encountering lately left very little to speculation.  So Lukes plan was to  find him a boyfriend, or maybe just a hookup, it depended on what he would be up to.  Ideally it would be an alpha, because Luke had read, that omegas get more sexually satisfied by intercourse with alphas ( even if they are not knotted) than with betas,  but beta would be ok too, he guessed, maybe they would make Calum less nervous. Calums dad was a beta too after all.  Luke unwittingly remembered the talk he had with David Hood, back in Sydney at the infamous dinner party. The mere thought of it made him shudder, he sincerely hoped that the Cake ship had gone down at the Hoods household.

But back to his current problem, Luke had tried to search his memory for any suitable alphas who he could pair off with calum, but there was simply no one convenient he could think of. The people of the crew were naturally out of question because it would be like getting out of the frying pan  into the fire, and no one else stayed in their lives long enough to prove himself trustworthy. Luke still thought of himself as good enough friend not to set Calum up with some jerk, who would only take advantage of him.

The first  partial success he had was when they were shooting the music video for Hey Everybody. The beta had caught one of the cameramen ogling Calum from a far when the omega was looking the other way, quickly averting his eyes every time Calum turned around. He did seem like a decent guy, but probably not confident enough to approach the bassist. From time to time he threw the omega a small smile, but sadly it went unnoticed by Calum, probably because he was being busy with obsessing over the bunch of fluffy puppies he was supposed to walk as his part time job in the movie. Luke decided it was the perfect opportunity for him to work his matchmaking mojo and  set up a plan.

He knew he would be asked to say a few things on camera about the parts they were supposed to play in the video, so when he did he promptly made up an excuse and sent the cameraman , Alex was his name,  over to Calum who was chilling on the nearby stairs. It turned out to be a good move because somehow the omega must have realized from the way the alpha was talking to him that his interest wasn’t purely professional, Luke was snooping on them from around the corner and was pleased to see a tint of blush forming on the omegas cheeks.

His joy was kinda short lived though because out of sudden Michael appeared behind him and didn’t seem very happy with the situation. The alpha very quickly caught up on what was going on and also pretty easily guessed how Luke was involved in this. Needless to say he was a right bitch to Luke for the rest of the day.

At the end of the day they were being wrapped up into a bubble film wrap, Alex seemed to be pretty fascinated by the one shouldered design of the “ dress” Calum was wearing, longingly  staring at the one naked shoulder sticking out of the mess of plastic. Michael on the other hand looked like he wanted to kill either him or Luke, but since it didn’t seem wise to piss of the people who were responsible for how their music video will turn out, he settled for taking it up on the guitarist.

“Luke, you look fucking ridiculous.” He threw at the beta right in front of the camera, and Luke was sure that he was saving the real shit for later when they stop rolling.

The beta tried hard to convince himself that he didn’t feel a pinch of hurt upon being insulted by the alpha, but he swallowed any protests focusing on proceeding with his plan. It promised well, he actually spotted Alex and Calum talking when they were leaving the set,  but somehow it ended up there, they never met up again. And so all his work went to nothing. In the end the only thing he achieved was having Michael pissed at him which was the complete opposite of what he expected to gain from this.  The fact that his plan hadn’t worked out made Michael slightly less mad but he still earned himself a good week of bickering and name calling. Michael was pretty good at holding a grudge, maybe didn’t have a black belt in it like Ashton, but still wasn’t the easiest one to forget and forgive.

And that was the closest Luke got to get Calum laid. Pretty lame score, he had to admit.

Yet at the end of the summer, when he was slowly getting ready to throw in the towel, things surprisingly started to look up, because Calum actually managed to find himself a date in Camden. Michael didn’t look very happy about it , but Luke ( and Ashton probably as well) secretly hoped that it would somehow make him realize that he would have to move on from his ( at this point pretty pathetic) crush. Not much happened that night but numbers were exchanged and the alpha, Jimmy actually had to make a business trip to Raleigh in a week and he promised to call Calum when gets there. If it genuinely was just a happy coincidence that they were just playing there  or he  made it up to be able to see Calum again, they never found out, but the alpha kept his promise anyway and made the call.

Jimmy invited Calum for a drink and Michael became so depressed that he was ready to hole up in his hotel room and get drunk alone. The rest of the band and Hey Violet fortunately didn’t let him do it and dragged him out with them. If he wanted to get wasted, he should at least not do it alone. They all got fucking plastered that night, but Michael easily won the competition for the biggest drunk and drunk himself almost unconscious. Luke didn’t remember ever seeing him so wasted, in the end he and Casey somehow had to drag him out of the bar to a taxi and than to this hotel room and when Casey left, the alpha stumbled into the bed and was just helplessly lying there barely clinging to consciousness.

“ Ok, let’s get you of these clothes.” Luke suggested seeing that the alpha was clearly unable to take care of himself.

As he was trying to get his shoes off, the alpha turned around facing the beta and Luke froze when he saw there were tears rolling down his face. Michael was crying soundlessly, mostly just letting the water leave his eyes.

“ Why doesn’t he want me?” he croaked in a broken whisper. “ whats wrong with me?”

Luke kept silent looking for some words but none seemed relevant in this situation. In the end he hesitantly put his hand on the alpahs upper arm and rubbed over fabric of his shirt there. “ There is nothing wrong with you, you and calum are just not meant to be.”

“ Bullshit.” The alpha sniffed.

“ You will find someone else.” Luke tried to console him. “ its for the better, you are in the same band, it would mess things up.”

“ But you said, he wants me.”

Luke let out a sigh. “ I didn’t know, I am sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Nothing was said for a while and than Michael tensed up.

“ Shit, I think I will be sick.” The alpha mumbled shuffling  around obviously trying to sit up and failing miserably.

Luke quickly looked over the room looking for something that could serve as a bucket. He spotted one champagne bucket on a table grabbing hold of it and pushing it towards the guitarist just in time to prevent the worst disaster.

As he listened to the alpha being sick and was slightly stroking his back to make him feel better his memories went back few years to the night they were celebrating one very successful gig, well successful to their highschool standards which meant that some people actually showed up. It was what success actually meant for them back then. It was the first time he got properly smashed and he was feeling absolutely terrible, he was half convinced that he would die there, choke on his vomit or something, because that was what his parents used to tell him when they tried to deter him from drinking alcohol.

Michael was the one who took care of him back then, the situation was pretty similar to this one but their positions were switched. And Luke remembered how it was the very first time he actually thought of Michael as a really nice guy. Not just talented, good looking, stylish and overall just cool enough to pull the punk rock god persona,  but a genuinely good person as well. Someone who you could lean on, someone who would make a really good friend.

Michael let out a choking noise, sloppily  wiping at his mouth , obviously done throwing up for the time being. Luke took the bucket from under him and went to flush it out. The  shower looked  much –too – fancy to be used for this purpose, somehow the old yellow tiled bathroom at Michaels grannys flat seemed like a more becoming place for this kind of doings, but here they were in the fancy hotel room, trying to keep the expensive looking carpet from being vomited on.

When Luke came back he found his bandmate sleeping on his side. He wanted to just took off his shoes and cover him with a blanket leaving the bucket at the bed on his  way out.  But then his parents words about choking on vomit came back to him , and dammit these things really stuck with you for a lifetime. So he kicked off his own shoes and climbed up into the bed laying down next to Michael, this way, he wont be able roll over onto his back in his sleep and possibly suffocate.

Luke didn’t really mean to fall asleep himself but he was pretty tipsy too ( even though he didn’t drink much, but he was a light weight) so when he laid down the room started to spin and he squeezed his eyes shut to stop himself from getting sick . He only realized he fell asleep when he woke up at the sound of throwing up, he could see ( and smell) the guitarist being sick again and shuddering as his stomach clenched even thought there was nothing more to get out.

“ fuck. I wanna die.” The alpha whined.

“ Gonna get better.” Luke assured him, forcing himself to move into sitting position and then crawling next to the alpha.

“ you think you done? “

“ hope so”

Luke chuckled. “Ok, give me the bucket. I will flush it.”

“ you are an angel, you know that.” Michael whined.

“ yeah? I ll remind you later. See, if you can remember it in the morning.” Luke teased him but got this strange warm tingling in his chest, even though it was pretty stupid to gloat at something the alpha let slip out of his mouth while being so smashed he probably didn’t even know what he was saying.

Michael snorted. “ I always remember…”

Luke laughed harder. “ you don’t.”

“ I always remember ..you.” Luke was rinsing the bucket when he heard the guitarist from the other room and he couldn’t stop the feeling  from coming back. Dammit you, Michael.

“Against his better judgment, he wanted to ask the alpha what he meant by it, but when he walked over to the bed, the alpha was once again fast asleep. Luke sighed and placed the cleansed bucket on the ground, where the alpha could easily reach it, and laid down next to him again.

“This time he didn’t manage to  get off to sleep because ten minutes later Ashton invited himself into the room.

“ Luke? “ the drummer tried as he spotted there was one more person huddled up on the bed beside Michael.

Luke rubbed at his eyes. “ what is it? “ he blinked into the light that was coming in from the hallway.

“ just checking how Michael is doing. Is he asleep? “

“ I was..”  the alpha in question whispered in a low voice as if talking louder could kill him.

“you r not gonna throw up again? “  Luke inquired.

“ nah, no… don’t think so.”

“ fuck, you really are wasted.” Ashotn voice kinda softened. “you need something?”

“ Nope, I have it. I can take care of him.” “Luke chipped in.

“ yeah.. Luke is good.” Michael slurred. “ A good a friend.” He added already dropping off again.

“ Ok.“ Ashton hesitated. “ you gonna sleep here then? “ he asked. Luke couldn’t really see his face because of the light , but he could tell from his voice he was looking at him weirdly.

“ yeah? What wrong with that?”

“ nothing. Just… nothing.” The alpha sighed. “Just make sure he sleeps it off, we are playing tomorrow.”

“ Yeah, I know.”

“ Good.”

After Ashton left, Luke made himself comfortable again. He was lying on his back , suddenly not so tired anymore, thinking about what Calum was doing right now. Was his date already over or was he staying the night? Somehow he really wished Calum would, it would make things so much easier for him… well, not _him_ but the band in general of course.

“ Luke…” Michael huffed shuffling in his sleep.

“ What?” Luke whispered. God, he hoped he wont be sick again. He was so done with washing up the vomit bucket.

“ Cuddle me.” The alpha hummed almost inaudibly.

Luke sighed. “ sleep.”

“ Pleeease.”

“ OK. “ The beta turned over to spoon the older boy and wrapped his arms around him.

“ Satisfied?” he asked and a smile crept into his voice.

“ Hmm.” The alpha was once again asleep.

Luke snuggled closer into the alphas back and breathed in, somehow even though there was still a smell of fresh vomit in the air, the alpha still managed to smell good to him.  The smell and Michaels soft snoring lured him into sleep in no time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Things will get even more mixed up in the next one !   
> Love you   
> LM


	20. On the road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cake bonding time!

Luke woke up with a terrible headache and his first thought was, that he didn’t quite deserved it, because he didn’t even have that much to drink last night.  He should have maybe drunk some water before going to bed though. Talking about going to bed… he noticed that hydrating himself wasn’t the only thing he neglected last night, he had also failed to undress, which maybe had something to do with the fact, that it wasn’t his bed, he woke up in.

Jeez, his head was really killing him, it was throbbing so bad, that it almost sounded like someone was hammering next to him.

“ Bang, bang.” …. Or pounding on the door. It would explain a thing.

“ Wake up, losers. “ Oh, Ashton! Requiem for anyone who was ever woken up by his drummer banging on the door.

“I am going in, stop snuggling or whatever  you are doing there.” The oldest member of 5sos shouted through the door in surprisingly strident voice. They should really give him more solos.

Luke covered his face with his arms, in the process noticing he didn’t even manage to pull off his sweatshirt from yesterday, and it smelled like puke. Did he throw up? No, wait, it was Michael! Speaking of which – the alpha had a pillow pulled over his head, obviously set on ignoring the alpha at the door!

“Common, get out of the bed, we are leaving in half an hour. Jeez, why do I always have to be the mature one.”  The drummer barged in and gave them a furious glare.  

Luke could feel the bed moving next to him, and a loud grumble escaped from the guitarist. “Fuck off, Ashton.”  Luke could hear the Michael growling at the older alpha.

Luke let out a chuckle. Michael was cute when being all grumpy in the morning, especially when hangover.

“Get up and take a fucking shower, I am not letting you on the bus, smelling like this. “Ashton went from shouting at the alpha to  hitting him with a pillow, until he apparently had enough and ran to the bathroom.”

As the outraged alpha was about to move on to Luke, the beta swiftly rolled out of the bed and with loud bang ended up on the floor. “ Ouch!” Not getting up from the floor, the blonde crawled over the room  to the freezer and finally managed to  get some bottled water out of it.

Only after drinking half of it in one go, he let himself to look at the drummer who was standing there, with his arms crossed, obviously not impressed in the slightest by the state of band mates. He was not very healthy looking either, but apparently was energized enough to be able to kick their asses if they wont hurry up.

“You might wanna take a shower too, you don’t look exactly .. presentable.”

Luke hummed but didn’t make a move to get off the floor.

“ Should I  show you the way there?” Ashton pressed on with a hint of menace creeping up into his voice.

Luke let out to whine, it was useless to fight with Ashton when he was like this.

Instead he dragged himself of the floor and started walking to his room, he kept his pounding head down and almost walked into his other bandmate, who was strolling the other way.

Calum looked over him and burst out laughing. “One time, I let you guys  go out without me and you manage to drink yourself senseless.”

Luke made a face at him resisting the urge to say something harsh, like _and whose fault is that?_ But swallowed it because, it really wasn’t fair to blame it on Calum and  Luke had actually been trying to get him laid, so why should he bitch about it?

Calum wagged his head, watching Luke curiously. “From where are you even going, haven’t you slept in your room or something?” Luke gulped, he was too hangover to deal with this. He probably should keep silent, but his brain hadn’t quite caught up so he spat out without thinking.

“Had to tuck Michael in, he was fucking plastered, and kinda fell asleep there.” He didn’t mean it accusingly but Calum still stiffened and his smile faltered after hearing that, hint of guilt creeping in instead.

“ Oh. So… see you on the bus then? “

Luke nodded only now noticing that the omega had already packed up and was carrying his luggage to the bus. He should really hurry up.

“ See you.” He shouted at Calum as he rushed to his room, thankfully being able to locate the card to his room in the back pocket of his jeans, where he vaguely remembered putting it the night before.

The second time Luke woke up that day, he was on the tour bus and he woke up to Michaels and Ashtons voices coming from the kitchenette. He peeked from behind the curtain and could see that Calums curtain was still closed while Ashtons was open.

Suddenly his vison was blocked by the other alpha coming over and leaning down to fish something out of his bunk.

“Morning.” He greeted Michael, who looked up in surprise.

“Oh, look who is up?“ he said, smirking at Luke, but at the same time looking a bit bashful, as if remembering the evening before.

“ What time is it?” Luke rubbed at his eyes.

“Almost 2.”

“ Fuck, I should probably get up.”

“Nah, can take one more hour.” Michael smiled at him again and Luke couldn’t help but feel warm at that.

“How come, you are so lively when you looked like shit yesterday. Well , more livelier than me definitely.”

Michael smirked at him. “Experiences, princess.” Luke snorted at that. “Plus I made John to make me a nice greasy breakfast.”

“ Really? Will he make me some?”

“If you get your pretty ass out of up there, he might.”

“ Ngh, could you flirt somewhere else? “ calums curtain was pushed aside and the omegas face appeared from behind it.

“ oh ooh oh, here is a one to talk. How was your night going, calum?” Michael smirked but Luke could see his eyes became kind of sad. Calum pulled the curtain back with a loud sigh.

“ Hope your backside doesn’t hurt too much, not gonna spare you on the stage tonight. “

“ Aaaa… shut up.” Could be heard from behind the curtain. Luke let out a laugh.

Suddenly Ashton came over.”  Breakfast?” he asked, waving a plate of scrambled eggs in his hand.

Luke almost let out a very unmanly whimper upon smelling the food.

Calum peeked form behind his curtain again. “Can I have it?”

“ Hey .. its for me!” Luke complained while trying to untangle himself from his sheets to get out of his bunk.

Ashton rolled his eyes.” God give me strength, there is enough for of you, just get your lazy asses out of the bunks before I swear I ll find another band.”

 

The concert was a bit laid back that night. Luke collected himself during the first few songs and Ashton was doing a damn great job but the other half of the band was lacking their usual energy. Michael didn’t run around the stage as much as usual and Calum mostly just walked , cutting the jumping around to an absolute minimum.

Luke still wondered if he was just tired or …. Well, incapacitated in other ways.

Anyway after they finished the show and were back on the bus, Luke became really curious and couldn’t wait for them to get somewhere more private to be able to interrogate the omega about it. He couldn’t help it to get somewhat fascinated by the fact that his bandmate had finally accepted his presentation and was growing into his status. Maybe he should be careful not to turn into his brother though.  

He wasn’t the only curious one on the bus though, both alphas seemed pretty tense, but Ashton of course was able to hide it, while Michael not so much.  He spotted the guitarist  staring at their bassist intensely, when the other was looking the other way.

The last time he did that Michael turned his way suddenly, blushed upon meeting Lukes eyes and quickly left the kitchen area. Suddenly Luke noticed what the alpha had been staring at, Calums shirt slipped a little and gave him a good view of one of his shoulders.  There was a very prominent bite mark surrounded by a nice set of purple bruises. Luke couldn’t help but stare a little too, it was so weird, he was used to see some love bites on Ashton or Michael, but not on Calum and not so .. ehmm, evident?  The beta touched his own shoulder on reflex. For some reason he couldn’t pry his eyes of the marks on calums skin, unwanted images of how they got there popped up in his head suddenly and  he felt himself getting strangely warm and tingly, and to his horror a hint of arousal started coiling in his belly. Seriously, what the hell?

Few minutes later Ashton  slipped into the kitchen and threw a scarf at the omegas head. Well, more like smacked him with it.

“Ouch, what the hell, Ash?“

“ Put that on, you get cold, the AC is on.”

“For real? Its fucking hot here.”

Ashton gave him a look, waiting for the omega to figure it out on his own.

Calum blushed red, quickly grabbing the scarf, mumbling thanks to the alpha.

Luke sneezed, involuntarily attracting attention. “Sorry.” He apologized for nothing, hoping that his embarrassment was staying out of his face.

Later when they were chilling in their hotel rooms, Luke was lying in his bed, wondering if it was too late to pay a visit to the omega. Before he could make up his mind there was a knock on his door, and Calum turned out to be the one behind it.

“ Hey.” he scratched the side of his neck, looking a bit nervous. “ Can I come in? “

“ Sure thing, why so serious?” Luke said and patted the place beside himself on the bed.

Calums face lit up and the omega plopped down next to Luke. 

“So. Is something up? You look worried.” Luke inquired.

“ Nope. Just wanted to hang out. We don’t do that much lately. “

Luke nodded, that was true, they were kinda all dealing with their own shit alone lately.

“ Wanna play a game or something. Or watch a movie? “

“ Sure, whatever.”

After a few games of FIFA, they set on watching some re run of old episodes of Supernatural.

“Damn, we really hadn’t done that in a while.”

“ Yup, things are fucking busy. Plus you have a girlfriend now, so ..” Calum trailed off but Luke could tell what he was getting at. Lately they didnt really put much effort into their friendship, it was all about dating or hooking up, and it was a fucking shame. Luke had been a bit mad at Calum after the hospital incident but it was not like he meant to give him the cold shoulder. They were still besties, Luke loved Ashton, and there was something about Michael that made him feel like coming home when he was around the alpha, but him and Calum clicked in a whole different and very uncomplicated way. Luke hadn’t even realised it but he had really missed their horror movie marathons and sneaking to have a beer at a bar, and couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault that they didn’t hang out so much anymore.

“ I really missed it.” Luke  said finally, a smile appearing on Calums face immediately.

“ Yeah, me too.”

“ Lets just do this more often.”

“ Absolutely.”

“ Ehmm, can I ask you something? “

“ Okay… “ the bassist agreed but looking a bit weary.

“ Have you and Jimmy, you know…”

“ Oh, God!” Calum covered his face.

“ I am not judging, just wanna know I guess.”

“ Well.. that’s why you’ve been staring at me like a weirdo for the last two days.”

Luke gulped, again turning into a tomato.

“ You are really not that subtle.” Calum laughed upon seeing Lukes dumbfounded expression.

“So… did you? “ Luke went on, not letting Calum change the subject so easily.

“ Yaeh, we did. It was nice.” The omega squirmed a little.

“ Nice?”

Calum slapped his arm. “It was fucking amazing, okay? He was really hot and attentive.  And he is really good with his fingers and don’t let me start on…”

“ ok, ok! I think get it..”

calum laughed. “ I thought you wanted to know. “

“ Too much details.” Luke could feel his ears getting red too.

“ So, will you see him again?”

Calum shrugged. “ Don’t thinks so. But maybe, who knows. We are not dating or anything.”

“Ok.” Luke wished he had more to say to that topic, but he for some reasons he suddenly felt really awkward. He always felt like a child, when the others were discussing their dating experiences. Maybe it was because they were all alphas or omegas, and he as a beta wasn’t so much emotionally involved in the relationship area, omegas and alphas were generally the sub genders which were more immersed in relationships and also were generally more sensual and sexual, but it didn’t mean that betas weren’t interested in these things at all. Maybe it was just Luke who never really warmed up to the whole dating thing, to be completely honest, the best thing about having a girlfriend from his point of view was that it made everyone stop from talking about that he should get one, or when he would present etc. He liked her, of course he did, but he couldnt shake off the feeling, that there was something more out there for him. He felt like some piece of him was missing, like there was some part of him, that wasn’t fully awakened yet. Lately he had been thinking about it a lot, and he came to conclusion, that maybe he will in the end present as alpha after all. But when? He was already old enough to be considered late bloomer if he presented now!

“What are thinking about? “ calum asked looking at him searchingly.

“ Nothing, why?”

“ you are frowning a lot, looks almost  scary.”

Luke snorted. “ Shut up. Wanna watch some horror movie?”

“ Sure, what do we watch.”

“ Wait, I vee heard about a good one. Is called REC, like short for recording.”

“ Ehhh…”

“ you ve already watched it, didn’t you? “

“ I did, with Ashton.”

Luke pouted little. “ why didn’t you tell me.

“Hey, I did tell you, you were too busy.”

“ Ok. Lets watch it again.”

“ Ehmm. … do we have to. It wasn’t really that good.”

“ Really? I heard It s scary as hell…”

“ Well…it might be true.”

“ Wait… you are scared to watch it again, aren’t you? “

Calum whined. “ I am not.”

“ You so are, that’s cute!”

“ Shut up, lets watch it!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. Leave a comment, please!   
> Love you  
> LM


	21. Ask Anything I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not my best one, but watch the interview, will make more sense!

Ashton had insisted on Luke sitting as far from Calum as possible during the Ask Anything Chat Interview and the reason for it was pretty obvious too, by now the drummer would bet on that it was only a matter of days, if not hours before Luke would finally present. And Luke, as much as he didn’t like it, couldn’t really blame him for getting the idea, because by now he himself was convinced that it was entirely possible.

He had been uncharacteristically irritable lately, he couldn’t fully explain why, but it was like he just couldn’t stay still, like his nerves were on fucking overload. He would snap at people for the most ridiculous reasons, such as that they wore his favorite sweatshirt, even though he didn’t really have a favorite sweatshirt, he liked some more, but never really made it a big deal if someone of the band borrowed them, unlike for example Ashotn who was more possessive with his things.

And yeah Luke was known for a being a little bit annoying sometimes, but over the last month his attitude surpassed his usual bitchiness in truly remarkable ways. It was like he drank a confidence potion, something that made his ego double up over the last few weeks while it simultaneously made him almost unbearable to be around.  He started to behave really disrespectful towards the alphas. Not that they would ever give much  thought to the sub gender hierarchy in the band, they were too laid back and had too much of  engraved dislike to authorities of all of kind to do that,  but Luke kinda took it so far, that he even made Michael use an alpha voice on him, simply because the alpha felt so cornered by Lukes angry outburst, that he kinda lost it! The beta even tried to be impudent with David, their tour manager, who had none of it though and swiftly put him in his place, he was actually the only person who could make him behave now.  

After it went for a while, everyone had suspected that Lukes rut was right around the corner, and they were all impatiently awaiting the moment they would finally know for sure he was in fact an alpha.

While Michael and Calum seemed more amused than anything else and behaved like Luks presentation was some kind of tv show they were  watching, ashton took it more seriously and seemed to be especially concerned about Calums safety. He was following Luke like a ghost, never leaving the younger half of 5sos alone anywhere, which as a result made Luke even more cranky. He was aware he was being a dick, but he felt like the alphas constant concern was making the matter 100 times worse.

Everything wasn’t all bad though, when he wasn’t annoyed as hell,  he actually  felt quite confident and self assured these days. But it probably had something to do with the fact that, they had just finished their third world tour, a new album was being released and he felt like they had finally achieved something great and people had started to eventually recognize them not only as the guys who opened up for One Direction but as a promising young musicians. On the other hand he felt like there was suddenly so much happening and changing in his life  that he couldn’t help but feel utterly overwhelmed from time to time.

He especially  didn’t know how to feel about  his presumable presentation. Half of him, the rational part, was telling him that it wasn’t  actually a bad thing, there were all kind of advantages that came along with the alpha business, including finally being able to smell everyone, because that was what had been pissing him of for a while now. It was such a drag that he  couldnt tell what his band mates were feeling from just smelling them. At first  he didn’t think of it of as such a big disadvantage, but lately he felt like they sometimes communicated on this different level, and he was the only one left out of the conversation, like they knew stuff that remained hidden to him. For example  the alphas always knew that calum would go into his heat and than they had to  spell it out for him, because of course he wouldn’t catch on it,  and even worse sometimes they would forget and than they would be like, oh, sorry, I forgot you couldnt tell!

 It made Luke feel really left out, in his worse moments he felt  like wasn’t   a full-bodied member of 5sos anymore , like he wasn’t a part of the pack. Well, they weren’t officially a pack of course, packs weren’t a bid deal anymore anyway. But still… sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder, if things wouldn’t be better if he presented after all.

People might finally start taking him a bit more seriously too. He was so fed up with people referring to him as the baby of the group, the cute one, like he was child. He thought that peopled would get the hint once he found a girlfriend, that he was in fact a grown man, but no, he was still the unpresented one.

Ashton had told him not to take it to heart too much, that it didn’t really matter, whaht people said, but the truth was that he sometimes felt his very own members were unintentionally treating him like a child too.  And sometimes he felt like it was even  him himself who considered himself a child too, like his very own brain refused to accept himself as mature.

All of that made him more and more inclined to believe that he would actually have yet to present. That feeling of something missing in his life so much , that it sometimes felt like there was a hole in his guts, a missing piece of him, it all would indicate that he wasn’t actually a beta , that he was just unpresented.

Even his family seemed to agree with that, he could tell from the looks they were giving him, when he flew over after the tour ended. His oldest brother kept patting him on the shoulder all the time, his mom cooked so much that it seemed she was trying to feed him up. His dad even took him aside to give him the talk, which was especially mortifying considering the fact that he was a grown man, with a girlfriend.

Speaking of which, he kinda hoped  that at least she would be the one to give him a break from everyone’s madness, only to find out that she had already been bragging about Lukes upcoming presentation to her friends. _Hey, my boyfriend will be an alpha soon, isn’t it wonderful!_ They had a  big argument after this, and Luke had to admit that he kinda overreacted and was really mean, because as weird as it sounded even though he himself was pretty ok with becoming alpha, for some reason he couldn’t stand other people talking about it. He didn’t understand himself and he knew that his behavior was confusing others too. He had never felt more lucky for having these three amazing friends for a bandmates though, because at the end of the day a few snide remarks and ashtons overprotectiveness aside they turned out to be the most cool about it after all. They quickly caught on him not wanting to talk about it, and just let him be, as far as he wasn’t extra extra annoying ( which still happened a lot).

Today was one of those days, their album was being released and everyone was on edge, and Luke couldn’t get a hold of himself, everything irked him, he wasn’t in a bad mood, he just somehow couldnt calm down. It didn’t help that they were kinda stuck inside for the last few days, and his body was missing the regular physical strain of the shows. He was all fidgety and impatient and probably made everyone want to ´punch him in his face,

Ashton was throwing him alarmed glances from the first time he laid his eyes on him in the morning , not even trying to be subtle about it anymore and he wouldn’t let him take a seat next to Calum, he even went so far that Calum and MIcahel had to switch places for Calum to be as far as possible.

But maybe it wasn’t all about Luke, because Calum was due to  his heat soon, so it wouldnt really be a fun situation if he went into his heat and it pushed Luke into rut or vice versa. It sounded like a beginning of a very bad joke.

Luke really didn’t feel like doing an interview right now, but didn’t really have choice other than  to go with it. He  hoped at least it would be over soon and the questions would be simple and innocent, but well.. he should have known better by know, their fans were nothing but innocent and they really didn’t spare them in this one.

Two questions to the chat Someone from Miami asked where are they most ticklish, he could see Asshotn regretting not skipping the question the moment it left his mouth.

“ smack bang right in the …” Michael moved his hands in a way that let very little doubts, that he didn’t actually mean an armpit! Luke could see a hint of blush forming on calums cheeks, and a very inappropriate idea popped up in his mind - was Michael actually remembering fingering Calum from when they slept together? Luke mentally slapped himself, what the hell, it was so not ok to think about something like that now, or any other time, why would he even think about it?

“ if you say your balls are ticklish, then parents will have to explain what the balls are, and why are you ticklish there.”  Ashton expanded on the dubious topic.

“ The balls..” Michael made fun of him and Luke was pretty sure he hadn’t actually  meant balls either…

 Something in the  way the newly blonde alpha said that made him shiver. The more time they spent on this fucking ridiculous topic, the funnier he felt. He actually was thankful when Ashton cut off the ridiculous discussion and moved over to the next question. The weird feeling in his guts didn’t disappear though, the others kept giving him weird looks as he kept fidgeting in his seat and he tried his best to divert their attention with funny remarks, which weren’t really that funny, but at least made him focus on something else.

“ What was the first and last song you recorded on the album? “ Ashton asked and Michael who obviously liked  the question started answering, while absentmindedly rubbing his palms together. Luke wished he wouldn’t do that, somehow it was making him really nervous,  he also  wished both the alphas would just simply get on with  the questions, without being so… so… he didn’t even know how to explain it.

 All he knew was that he  suddenly felt this familiar tug in his guts  and he really didn’t want to get a boner right know, because he was maybe ok with  getting a boner over nothing when he was like12 or 14, but he was way too old for this now and  What was he even thinking about that would explain the sudden arousal, Michaels fingers rubbing against each other, Ashton and Michael arguing about which songs they recorded first? seriously?

The fact that Calum kept staring at him like he had grown a second head didn’t help either, the blush remained on the omegas cheeks as well as the lovable pout, that surely would only add fuel to the whole Cake ship later, but it was the least of Lueks problems right now. Luke gave Calum a look and the omega looked down sheepishly and started nipping at the skin around his nails, which honestly looked even worse.

He really hoped that the next question would save the situation.

“ which member of the band gives the best… “ and seriously what the hell??? ”Hugs.” Ashton finished and everyone started laughing, Luke a bit hysterically though.

Because he was so not ready to jokingly discuss blow jobs right now, not with Calum staring at him like he wanted to give him one, not with Michael looking like he wanted to get one, or at least hot enough that Luke would give him one….. WAIT, wait, wait, WHAT?….. fuck, what was he even thinking about again. His brain was totally sabotaging his effort to not to get hard in front of camera while talking about his band members’  _hugs_!

“ I do.” Michael nonchalantly offered in reply and Luke had enough. He was so regretting no staying at home today pretending to be sick or something.

He was so done with his fans too, so done, cause he had just stopped himself from thinking about Michaels hidden talent in hugging, when…

 “ Do penguins have teeth, like I asked my science teacher and he blew me off.” And even though he let out another hysterical laugh, how was he supposed to stop thinking about inappropriate things, if someone kept talking about blowing off.

“ you science teacher blew you off.” Michael laughed, of course the jerk found it funny.

“ what are  they teaching at Breadford?” ashton chipped in.

“ is this a yell for help?” even calum thought it was a good joke.

The Malum looked amused, Luke not so much, he was seriously trying to block all of them just for a moment and think about dead puppies or something to calm down. The questions weren’t helping… Michaels body language wasn’t helping either, him and Ashotn trying to imitate penguins teeth with their fingers definitely wasn’t helping!

 Luek didn’t know when he became obsessed with fingers but he mentally begged them to just leave them peacefully in their lap for the rest of the chat, because his pants definitely felt too tight now.

Luke hadn’t really felt this on edge for a while, he was really at loss about what was just happening,  was he actually ready to present? Like right now?  Or was this just his stupid crush on Michael again?  He had thought  these stupid feelings were gone. Obviously not.

 He had to somehow distract himself so he stole the tablet from Ashton to read the questions.

The question about their school fans seemed cool enough, Luke jumped at the opportunity and tried to think of  something to say to make look himself less like an idiot, but couldn’t focus. Not with the way Michael was mimicking their school audiences reactions on their music, it was pretty spot on but all he could focus on was Michael. By now he was pretty sure that at least ashton, who was sitting right next to him, was aware of his predicament, what an embarrassment!

“ it was almost the opposite, no one like the band.”

“ no one liked the band, but everyone liked me.” Michael  raised his eyebrow suggestingly while looking directly into lukes eyes.

“ thats a lie.”

“ I know.” Michael whined and Luke didn’t think he could get more screwed.

What the hell was happening to him?  Was he really about to present as alpha? If so,  why was the blondes stupid childish remarks making him all warmed up, while calums poorly hidden ogling was making him more uncomfortable than anything else?

TBC

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me now what you think!   
> Love you   
> LM


	22. Ask Anything II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, just read it, and dont kill me!

Ashton felt the back of his neck sweat even though the temperature in the studio wasn’t really that high, it was pretty chill there actually. Yet the atmosphere in the band was nothing but chill, thankfully the team they were working with solely consisted of betas, so no one could actually tell what was happening. From his experiences, betas who weren’t used to be around omegas tent to explain their behavior in ways that comforted to their own experiences, like being nervous, tired, hangover… Which was probably what they thought of them right now. Because let’s be honest, they probably looked like mess or even worse.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact they barely slept last night, but Calums upcoming heat and Lukes weird behavior wasn’t helping.

Ashton felt almost sorry for the omega, the lack of sleep was something his body really didn’t need right now. He didn’t really try to be part of the conversation anymore, he was just fidgeting in his seat, alternating between looking to the ground and sending enamored glances Lukes way, which was honestly kinda disturbing. Ashton thanked god, that it had occurred to him to sit them at the opposite sides of each other, it would be be way more awkward to explain if they started to snuggel out of sudden.

As they were answering the question about their school fans, Ashton first noticed the familiar funky smelling scent in the air, kind on the more musky and spicy side of it usual spectrum. It wasn’t good, it meant that Calums heat was coming sooner that they had expected. It was no apocalypse, they had dealt with this before, but considering Lukes current situation, it could possibly get really dangerous. Fuck.

“ What are your favorite lyrics you ever written? “ Luke read another question.

Calum rubbed the side of his neck nervously, unintentionally making the pheromones stronger in the air, Ashton could tell the exact moment when the alpha on his left caught on calums scent too because he hesitated and kinda froze up  before he managed to answer the question.

“I enjoy the lyrics in the song Wrapped Around your finger and I enjoy the lyrics in Jet Black Heart.” he said in a low voice, seemingly lost in his thoughts too.  Luckily the blondes self control had improved a lot lately, he could handle sitting next to Calum even though his heat was coming. He was at loss what to do with Luke though.

The beta was an enigma, judging from his behavior and his fucking attitude he would bet a good money on him  going into rut really soon, they ve been waiting for a long time anyway. There was a catch though, because Lukes scent told a whole different story. The vocalist still smelled very much beta, in other words he didnt really have a smell, other than his aftershave, little bit of sweat and light cologne. He smelled like Luke, normal beta Luke, just the way he always used to.  Over the last few weeks, his behavior changed a lot, but his smell remained the same, witch didn’t exactly support the idea of him presenting.

Ashton remembered that when he himself presented, his whole family knew a week before it actually happened, even though he himself didn’t have a clue,  they kinda walked on eggshells around him and only after he went into the rut,  he learnt why. Before Michael presented Ashton could tell something was off with the youngers smell, yet he didn’t really pay it much attention, because they were busy back than and only later he realized what was that something  that changed in his smell.

Even Calum’s smell transformed a little in the week before his presentation, to which they unfortunately remain oblivious, mostly because they would have never guessed the kiwi would be an omega! But the subtle changes in smell were there, every single time. But in Luke’s case nothing! His overall attitude shouted alpha, but his smell said beta and that’s it! So, the most reasonable explanation would be that he was truning into a beta, and not as in beta – the unpresented, but into the real mature beta. There was a huge range of beta presentation syndroms, it could me so mild that it was barely noticeable or it could almost resemble going into rut, apart from the little fact, there was no rut in the end.

Well, on the other hand, Lukes behavior lately really just screamed soon to be alpha. So what would it be – alpha or beta, ashotn guessed that only tiem would tell! For now, he just wanted to get over with this interview , get home and have some sleep!

He could tell that Michael was in the same boat as him because he started looking pretty worried, well no to an untrained eye maybe, but ashton had spent enough tiem with the younger boy to recognize the signs. He was staring at Lukes flushed cheeks suspiciously,  as if having the same inner debate as Ashton.

Despite the tense atmosphere and their inner turmoil, they somehow managed to look pretty calm and collected on the camera.  The Modest joke raised all of their spirits, Ashton could tell that air cleared a little bit after that.

“What are your contact names in your phones for each other? “ Michael read another question from the tablet.

“None of your business, Sarah.”  Ashton said in hope to keep the mood light.

Michael tried to answer, but was constantly interrupted by his bandmates rambling.  finally he managed to get some  attention with a loud shriek. Calum jerked at the loud noise, he looked up at the alpha in surprise, his omega pheromones rising up again.  Ashton barely stooped himself form rolling his eyes at that, Calum was still so ridiculously tuned to Michaels mood swings, he doubted, that the alpha even realized. Maybe it was because they spent calums first heat together, or because they lived in each others shoes all the time, but there sure was some kind of bond between them. It pissed Ashton, he would really appreciate if Michael at least tried to keep some distance from the omega, at least until things settled a little. He had calimed he didn’t care about the omega anymore, but his constant borderline flirting was making it hard to actually believe he meant it.

“I used to have Calum as Calum but with two ls instead of one. I don’t have anymore… because he was getting mad. “ Luke kept rambling, he was talking some rubbish, but at least he tried.

 “Do you lick or chew your ice cream?”  Michael said.

Really? What kind of questions was that again?

“I eat ice cream like a normal person.” He pouted a little. “Are you chewing it like a bottle scotch? “

“I chew. “ calum chipped in, obviously not rolling with Ashton’s plan to go through the question as quick as possible and get home. If he didn’t know better, he would say the omega was provoking, must have been a bit light headed form the upcoming heat.

“ You don’t chew ice cream , I refuse to accept that. “ he cut off the argument, because honestly it was getting ridiculous and he was really getting tired and irritated.

“If you could eat one thing and one thing only what would it be?”

“ ice cream.”

“ Who in the band sleeps the most? “

 “ I do”

Well, it seemed that Michael was on the same page when it came being quick. Maybe too much though. There was quickly as in efficiently and there was quickly as in…. lets see if anyone even catches the answers.

“ You put no heart in this.” Luke complained sounding almost normal for the first time today.

Also Calums scent subsided a little again. The omega stole the tablet from Michael and went to read another question.

“If you could describe each other using your song titles, what would they be and why? “ it was actually a pretty good question.

“ sometimes I feel like a heartbreak girl.” Ashton didn’t really mean to say it, it just slipped out his mouth before he could think it through. Fuck!

 “I don’t think you get the question, if you can describe _each other_ by using song titles…”

“ I know… but “ another burst of laughter. Ok, ok, now he was getting a bit hurt, was it really that surprising that he had feelings too. Well, maybe he shouldn’t keep them in all the time, but … it was hard to talk about his problems when he was constantly dealing with other peoples drama.

“ sometimes I feel like I am too shy to share how I feel. Deep down. “ he admitted finally, because it was truth.  

Michael seemed to be the only one to actually notice the rare moment of honesty, mabe because as a fellow alpha he could understand at least a lttle bit  what it meant to try to be the tough one all the time.

Calum on the other hand was grinning like a Cheschire Cat,  staring at Luke like with a clear mischief in his eyes. Oh, man!

“ don’t say Don’t Stop..”

“ you as a song.”

“ Don’t say Don’t Stop.”

“ its gotta be Don’t Stop.”

“ I am mad. “ the vocalist whined and no one really felt sorry for him, because maybe not generally but definitely lately .. he was such a bitch, that he definitely deserved the Don’t Stop. And it wasnt like he didn’t like the song, he ( as the only one in te band) actually liked it,  even though he thought no one knew.

Michael was thinking hard and finally came with song for calum.

“ you are more like a kiss me, kiss you guy.” He said looking the omega directly in the eye. Ashton mentally rolled his eyes again, of course Michael would call calum Kiss me Kiss you, could he be any more cliché?

“ Michael? You should be like….. Don’t stop acoustic.”  Yeah, it fits, Don’t stop was Lukes dirty pleasure after all.

Michael ignored him completely. “ you are more like Everything I didn’t say kinda guy.”

“ eah, I get that.” Well, it actually described him pretty accurately, he had to give him that.

“ and you are don’t stop.”

“ how am I don’t stop.”

“ you are a huge don’t stop.”  No kidding, especially lately. Did he seriously ask why?

“ that should be like a new insult.”

“ get away from me, you giant don’t stop.” Michael was literally bending with laughter. Well, they all were, even the beta, because, well, he wasn’t one to get offended easily. Or was he?

“ what color will Michael die his hair next? “

“ I am not sure.”

“ I know.  you told me earlier.” Ashotn couldn’t help but tease the alpha a little.

“ why are you wearing sunglasses?” Michael raised his eyebrow at him.

Before Ashton could answer, Luek grabbed at the sunglasses, painfully stabbing his nipple in in the way.

“ Whoah.” Ashton gave a very unmanly shriek!

Luke fucking Hemmings! Really, he swore, that  if he won’t  present soon, he will have to kill him! Because there was only as much annoying one person can get without being strangled in his sleep.

Calum started oozing his pre-heat scent again, and of course Michael would start flirting with him.

Calum didn’t really try to stop him because his stubbornness usually deterred significantly in the time before his heat. Instead he became more cuddly and nice, but also more sensitive and vulnerable. Ashton would very much  rather deal with his snarky stubborn usual self.

“ yeah, don’t be a donts stop.”  Luke interfered, not giving the Malum a very friendly look. And yeah the flirting might have been annoying, but Luke seemed to take it way too seriously, he  looked almost scary and ashton had to try hard not to smack him one. Seriously what was wrong with him, he was laughing one second, than he gets a  boner out of thin air, the he is being all silly, and then he gets mad for no reason at all…

Right now the vocalist was sullenly glaring at the other part of 5SOS and he remained this attitude  for the rest of the interview. Accordingly  the omegas good mood seemed to deflate significantly as he clearly took Lukes sudden unfriendliness  abit too much to his heart.  

Ashton was actually really relieved After they finished the questions and said their goodbyes to the audiences. He was so done with his bandmates right now.

The omega slumped into a chair in their dressing room, rubbing at his face, looking positively exhuasted

 Luke went right to the bathroom and didn’t even spare them a glance.  Ashton sighed, that was exactly the reason why he refused to let any more relatinshoips happen in the band.  Someone always end up being pissed at someone and things go to hell.

“ Luke? “ the beta looked up from the wash basin at which he had washed his face. Surprised to see Michael in the doorway.

“ Could you explain why are you  being such a dick?”

Luke felt his cheeks heat up, he felt absolutely awful and really didnt feel like having this conversation now.

“ well, I am the don’t stop, am I not?” he snapped at the guitarist  and turned back to the mirror, washing his hands again.

“ common, it was just a joke, since when cant you take a joke?”  Michael folded his arms over his chest.

“ sorry...” Luke said curtly in a tone that would be more suitable for fuck you!

 Michael frowned at that. “ I get that, you just want to be an ass!  I dont give a shit if you are being like this towards  me or ashotn, but you wont behave like this towards  calum, especially when he is in pre heat. You understand? “

Lukes couldn’t help but flinch at the harsh tone, he refused to let it show, how much he actually cared. Instead he  threw  the paper towl with which  he had been drying his hands to   the ground and gave the alpha a furious look.

“ fine, if mr. oversensitive  cant handle a bit of bickering, I will walk on eggshells around him.” He spat at Michael and dashed out of the bathroom leaving mIchael with his mouth open.  He had never heard luke talk about calum like this, they always stood up for each other, ever since they became the only betas in the band. And they became even closer ever since calum presented and things between Michael and Calum became more complicated. What in earth made Luke to be like this? He was abit skeptical when it came to the rut thing, because he didn’t remember being such a cunt before his own. Luke was literally behaving like a 5 year old child!  

Later that evening ashton and Michael had a talk, Calum was already tucked in his room, prepared to ride out his heat alone, as usual. Because he still didn’t feel prepared to spend it with an alpha. And luke was holed up in his room, because he obviously degraded  into his 15 years old emo self. He was playing I Miss You on repeat and refused to talk to anyone.

“ what should we do with him? “ Michael sighed.

“ what do you want to do? Hes gonna have his first rut  and hes gonna settle. There is really nothing we can do.”

“ You think that all it is about? The rut? I haven’t been this annoying before my rut  and Hes been like this a for a while now, its been going on for to long. Last time in LA, you told me he had his issues and that you dealt with that. What was it about? “

“ No , you only started to be annoying after it. “ ashton snorted. “ everyone is different. Give him some time. And the other stuff has nothing to do with that. ”

Michael looked at him inridiculously. “ If you say so.”

And  so they did give him some time, and Luke finally calmed down in a few days, going back to his  moderately annoying self. Yet he didn’t go into the rut. Gradually everyone around him started accepting the fact that he most likely presented as beta. Even Luke himself, he didn’t know if he should feel relieved or disappointed, but in the end he was mostly glad that it was over and he finally knew for sure what his sub gender was! The only thing that worried him was , what will the reaction of his family will be. He would be the only male beta in among them, he didn’t want them to feel disappointed!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, its probabyl not the outcome you ve been expecting, but I promised he would present in the middel of Younblood tour, and he will.   
> Anyway, now everyone thinks he is beta and it will make it even more unexpected.   
> Also, I will probabyl write liek a coupel more chapters form 2015 and then I skip to 2018, because there is not much that happened inbetween that I would like to include in the story, so it wont take so long, trust me!   
> Love you   
> LM


	23. Sydney Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys fly back to Sydney and Luke is really worried about his family reaction to his presentation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had real trouble writing this chapter. I hope it didnt come out disrespectful. Mind, that its just a fiction! Hope you guys like it, because its a bit more on teh serious side, but anyway write me what you think about it!

Seeing the familiar rooftops of Sydney again after being away for a such long time felt amazing. Even though the exhaustion of nonstop touring had caught up with them finally, they recovered almost magically after seeing their homeland. The only one, who didn’t seem to share the collective enthusiasm was the lead guitarist. Luke was the last one to leave the plane and was making his way towards the exit a bit reluctantly while watching his bandmates backs move away.

He couldn’t say he wasn’t thrilled about coming back home, yet there was a cloud on his mind. He hadn’t really talked to his family since his presentation and he didn’t have the best vibes about it. He had one short call with his mom, but that was it. They hadn’t talked about that, but he could feel some  tension between them, so he could tell, she had at least some idea.

 Calum, who had ( as the only one) actually taken notice of  him being a bit uneasy, tried to persuade him, that he was just overthinking things, because of course his parents wouldn’t mind him presenting as beta, but Luke  knew better, he still held in vivid memory how his parents reacted to  Calums presentation, which was  something he failed to mention to the bassist, for an obvious reason. Sure, he hadn’t  presented as omega, but beta males were still pretty unusual among the Hemmings. Luke felt like he should at least feel a bit ashamed of that, which was honestly pretty stupid, because there was really no way he could influence something that was genetically written in his DNA, but he couldn’t help it. Even though he wasn’t exactly in raptures about the idea of becoming alpha, now that it was official he won’t be one, he couldn’t help but feel a tiniest bit of disappointment.

While he was busy with the thoughts running in his head, he didn’t even notice he was lagging behind his bandmates, when he looked up, he could see all of them being quite a long way ahead of him. Suddenly the omega turned around and gave him a bright smile, stopping in his tracks to wait for his friend to catch up with him.

Luke tried to return the smile to demonstrate everything was alright,  but Calum didn’t buy into it, because a slight frown crept into his face. When Luke caught up with him, Calum reached a hand to pat him on his shoulder, smiling worriedly at him.

“ Common, it won’t be that bad. They will be happy for you.”

Luke gulped. “You think so?“ he hated how unsure he sounded. He didn’t remember Calum being so whiny (well at least not in public) about his presentation, and he presented as omega! It made Luke feel like  yet a bigger looser.

“ What’s taking you so long?“ Michael shouted at them, clearly trying to keep his impatience out of his voice but failing.  It occurred to Luke, that the sole reason why he even tried to hold back his annoyance was that there was Calum with him. The things weren’t really all peachy between them ever since Luke presented.

Luke hadn’t really apologized to him for acting like a dick, even though he apologized to both Ashton, and of course Calum. They were both pretty forgiving, writing it off to a bad day and the presentation symptoms and refusing to give Luke any more shit  for it. The lead guitarist was a different story though; Luke couldn’t bring himself to put together a few words to say sorry to the alpha. Maybe that was because he didn’t really feel like he should be apologizing. Yes, he had been a jerk towards Calum and yes he gave Ashton pretty hard time, because the ever so careful alpha couldn’t just wave it off when Luke started behaving strangely. But Michael? Yeah, he had been annoying him quite a lot lately, but wasn’t it how it always went between them? Always bickering, always at each others throats? And if Luke remembered well, Michael wasn’t the easiest one to be around before and especially after his own presentation either. And after he and Calum fucked in London, he was basically this moping emo for a good half a year, Luke still remembered the fucking awkward conversation in New Orleans Michael forced them to have. And the hospital incident, that was just the icing on the cake. So he wasn’t really one to talk.

But even that wouldn’t normally stop Luke from muttering at least a quick I _’m sorry, man_. But the conversation in the bathroom after the Ask Anything Chat interview, the way Michael treated him, it had really hit a nerve. Luke still felt a lump in his throat whenever he remembered the almost hostile look the alpha gave him, the way he easily stood up for the bassist while simultaneously completely disregarded Lukes feelings like he wasn’t allowed to be sad or moody or just simply fuck up because he wasn’t an omega. And honestly Luke should have probably seen it coming.  Still the fact that it seemed somehow natural that Calum as the only omega in the band would get some special treatment now while Luke was well just a beta, made Luke feel a little betrayed and the knowledge, that that’s most likely not gonna change … like ever, was leaving him depressed. They were brothers, right, they were always supposed to be equal, like Four Musketeers, ok that was a but childish comparison, but anyway Luke had really made himself believe that Calums presentation won’t change a thing, but now  he realized that he was probably just kidding himself. It did change something, maybe it wasn’t obvious while he was still expecting to present, but it clearly showed now, that it was pretty much sure that he was a beta for good. And being beta wasn’t bad, Luke had really hoped to be one, it was being the only beta in the band which sucked.  He had started to wish that at least one of his bandmates was beta too. He maybe wouldn’t feel so left out and well disposable. Maybe he also wouldn’t be so angry at Michael for getting into his head, and giving him a cruel reminder of where he stood in the band.

The only thing he was more scared of than being a third wheel to his friends “pack” was them actually knowing that he felt that way. He would never live through the shame of them knowing how much of whiny brat he was. Because who else would mope around something like that, what self-respecting beta would moan about not getting the same treatment as an omega. Hell, even Calum himself had made it clear that he would kill for being treated more like beta (except maybe around his heat), he still gave the alphas an evil look whenever he felt like they were overprotecting him. And Luke the big sissy he was, almost, to his biggest embarrassment, felt jealous of that…. It took him some time to at least admit it to himself, but yes, he felt jealous of the bassist. That was how deep he sank.

Luke hadn’t realized how much of his gloomy thoughts must have leaked into his expression until he was brought back from his head by Calum snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Back to planet Earth?“ he joked, still smiling but the worry evident in the way he searched Lukes face now.

“Seriously, we could like get a coffee on the way home, if you wanted to talk. No problem, man.” He offered softly, giving the beta yet another warm smile. And Luke really appreciated that, because he knew how the omega secretly couldn’t wait to be home again, but… “ I mean it, say a word and we will stop somewhere.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Thanks, really, but they are already expecting me. Mom is making a dinner.” Luke returned the smile but he could tell, he didn’t actually persuade the omega, that everything was just allright.  “Lets go or Michael will throw a fit. “

Calum nodded knowingly and than  let a out a chuckle. “Good, I would like to see that.”

His dad was still at work when the taxi dropped him off in front of the house, he didn’t even had to knock, the door just threw open and his mom pulled him into a bear hug.

“So good to have you home again.” She mumbled into his shoulder, still hugging him for what felt like 5 minutes.

The only other person inside was Jack. He gave him quicker and manlier version of the hug.

“How has my little brother been doing?”

Luke rolled his eyes, so much for thinking that now that he presented he would get rid of the “Little brother” label.

“You always will be my little brother, even when you visit me in the old peoples home. “Jack grinned at him as if he could read his mind.

“ Great. Missed you too, jerk. I ll think twice about the visiting though.”

“Don’t tell me, you wouldn’t pay your poor 90 year old brother a visit from time to time.”

“ Oh, you wont live that long. You drink too much.”

“ Guys, I love you, but maybe you could move from the doorway. You let the heat in. “

“ Sorry, mum.” Jack called after her and patted Lukes back one more time.

Luke was still a bit worried about the dinner. So far no one mentioned anything about his new status. Dad had returned from work some time ago, greeted Luke in the same way as always, which really didn’t give him any clues, but then drove away to arrange some stuff. Luke had offered to help, but his mom had none of it, sending Jack instead. She wanted to have some time with her baby,  so she at least let him help in the kitchen.

Luke had been looking for some opening to initiate the dreaded conversation, but couldn’t find any, so in the end he settled on sullenly cutting onions.

“ Oh, did I mention that Ben will pop in. “

“ No, you didn’t. that s wonderful.” Luke hadn’t seen his oldest brother in a while.

“ Oh, and he might bring someone with him.”

                                                  

“ Wow! Really? “ Ben  was never one for oversharing, he kept his private life private even from his own family, he rarely even mentioned he was dating someone, let alone bring them home with him.  Luke was actually glad he wont be the only topic of conversation that evening. That was good, right?  Still, he would probably feel better, if he just peeled of the band aid.

“ Mom? “

“ yeah? “

“ you know I presented as beta, right? “ he let it out quickly before he could change his mind.

 His mom froze for a second and than she kept stirring the sauce. When she finally looked up from it, she smiled at him, and reached up to stroke his hair.

“ yeah , I know,” she confirmed. “ashton called me. And then David.”

Luke sighed. “ Sorry, I wanted to tell you myself, I told them not to butt in.”

“ Honey, I might never know, if they let it up to you.”

Luke snorted.

“ Oh, yea. You can be really secretive when you want to be. Many people odnt notice, because you always talk about everything, but when there is something you really don’t want them to know, they wont. “

Luke didn’t really know what to say to that.

  
“ Oh don’t give me that look,I am your mother, I am supposed to know you better tan you know yourself. “

Luke finally found some words. “ and you are not mad? “

“ for my teenage son not telling me everything? “

“ no, for me being a beta.”

His mom kept silent for a long moment and then she sighed. “ well, its not like you can do anything about it. That’s biology, cant be mad for something you have no power over,right? “ and Luke didnt know if he should feel relieved that she accepted it or if he should be sad about the obvious fact, that she wasn’t happy about that. Before he could say anything else, she looked up from the pot again and upon seeing the frown on his face she gave him a warm smile.

“ Don’t be sad about it, Lukey. There is nothing wrong with being a beta. It might not seem so …well, flashy. But it might actually be a bit easier in some…. Other ways. ”  She struggled a little to find the right worlds, waving the stirring spoon up and down. Luke gulped, was she mostly worried about him being disappointed? it hadn’t really occurred to him, but it  would actually made a sense. He never admitted to his family, he wasn’t really into the alpha thing.

“ Could you hand me the pepper?”

“ what?… yeah , sure.”

She smiled at him one last time and started talking about the new recipe she got from the neighbors.  Luke had mixed feelings about this, did this count as talking it out? Was that it? He thought that he would feel relived, but he only felt more confused.

Sure his family was always better with dealing with the practical stuff, talking about feeling wasn’t much their thing! He never minded it though, up until now.

Ben was late for dinner, he and his date got held up in the traffic, so they started without them.  His dad turned out to have the same approach as his mother, they didn’t really discuss the hot topic, but after dessert he took him aside and pull out a little box.

 Luke hesitantly opened it and there was a golden necklace inside, even to Lukes untrained eye it looked pretty old and costly. He had never seen it before and had no idea what to think of it.

“It used to be my great grandmothers.” his dad informed him shooting him a significant look.

“I meant to give it to my daughter, but since I have three boys, I decided to give it to you and I want you to give it to the girl you choose.“  
Lukes first reaction was to protest but as he opened his mouth  his dad raised his hand to silence him.

“Don’t give it to just any girl, choose someone you want to spend the rest of your live with, someone real. That’s the girl I want you to give that necklace to.”

Luke was at a loss, he hadn’t even known there had something like this at home.

“Oh, thank you. I mean… wow. But why not Jack or Ben? Why didn’t you give it to them? “ I t would make much more sense, Ben was the oldest and Jack had a stable girlfriend for years, he knew they counted on them getting married one day.

“I gave Ben her wedding ring, and jack my grandfathers watch. Seems fair you get the last precious thing that’s been handing over in the family. “

Oh, he almost forgot about the ring. He gave it to Ben after his presentation. “ Oh, well, thank you. I don’t know hat to say.”

His father just nodded his head and patted him on the shoulder. “I know. Now, come back to the table, I think I ve heard a car, looks like your brother finally decided to turn up.”  

“I will just bring it to my room.”

“ Ok, but hurry up.”

 

 Luke didn’t hurry up, in fact he dragged himself as slowly as humanly possible. He just needed some time to think. Did that mean that  he was officially considered an adult beta in the family? It looked like that, they accepted him as beta, of course they did, the Hemmings always accepted the reality, he should have known better than to expect them to make it a big deal.  There was no way in trying to make the river flow the other way, wasn’t it was his dad always said?

Luke sat down on his bed and looked at the Green Day Poster hanging on the wall, than he turned his eyes to the box in his hand. Looks like its real, he is an adult beta officially, and they are expecting him to find a girl to spend the rest of his life with. It felt kinda scary. He had mentally prepared himself for a fight, for having to explain himself, for apologizing and bargaining. He wasn’t prepared for this though, for the finality  and absoluteness of being accepted as beta, for the lack of discussion about it. He felt like there should be at least some kind debate about it…. Some doubts about whether or ot it was final! Everyone just accepted it without in a bat of an eye, and now Luke seemed to be the only one who somehow couldn’t!

The door burst open.

“Hey, come quickly, you won’t belive it!” Jack appeared in the doorway staring at Luke as if he just witnessed an UFO landing in the garden.

“ Give me a sec, a will just find a place for this.”  He raised the hand in which he still clutched the box. He expected jack inquiring what was in it, but the alpha actually didn’t give a shit. He barely looked at it.

“ No, no no, you have to come now! “ Jack grabbed at his arm and started dragging him from the room.

“ Ouch, what the fuck! What happened? “

“ quickly or they will kill each other.”

“ Who will kill each other, you make no sense.”

As if in answer  Luke heard a distinct yelling coming from the living  room.

“ whats going on? “ Luke started to have a feeling that he wont be the bad news of the evening after all.

“ Ben arrived.”

“ eah , I can hear that, and he and dad are already at it, that’s quick even for them.”

“ Well, he brought his date…”

“ And?”

“ the  date is a guy? “

“O h shit! Really? ”

“ an omega guy.”

“ No way, are you serious? “ Now, that would explain the havoc downstairs.

New wave of shouting could be heard and Luke shuddered, it didn’t sound like Jack was joking about the killing each other.”

“ deadly serious. Dad is soo mad, I haven’t seen him so angry in a long time.  I  can’t believe Ben haven’t mentioned anything before he brought  him over.”

“ How is mom taking it? “

 “ More… well practically. You know her, she is trying to  save the situation, but I can tell she is mad too. He really should have said something before.”

“well, I think you might be right, we should definitely go there.”

They rushed down the stairs and Just as they were entering the room, their dad burst  out of it without as much as giving them a look.

Luke looked over the room, his other brother was standing in the middle of it with his hands crossed over his chest obviously trying to glare a hole into the opposite wall.

“ Ben? “ Luke spoke to him.

“Ben turned to him and his   enraged facial expression softened in a second, he went over to his brother and gave him a hug. “Lukey, nice to see you again man! How  ve you been doing?” He gave him a big smile, even though he still looked tense.”

When he finally let him go, he turned around, and Luke could finally see the very reason of the commotion.

“ Luke, this is Charlie, my boyfriend. “

“ Charlie, this is Luke, my youngest brother.”

“ Yeah, I know, I don’t live under the rock. Nice to meet you.”  Charlie smiled, obviously trying to light up the situation, they shook hands, and than Charlie added timidly. “ I really like you guys. ” Luke nodded, he was used to people reacting like that when he was introduced to them.  He was usually  more embarrassed than them though.

He heard a cough and turned to his mom, who was standing in the door from the kitchen looking kind of helpless “ehmm, do you want a coffee or… there is still some dessert left, I mean…”

Luke could see the question in her eyes… _I mean , if you want to stay_.

“Sorry, mom, but I think we should go to the hotel.” Ben answered tightly.

She nodded in understanding. “ yes, you maybe should. I ll pack something for you.“

“ Mom, that’s not…”

“ No, that’s ok.” She raised her hand in a gesture that showed that was not matter of discussion.

“ Man, what possessed you  to just barge in like this, you should have at least warned them, you know how old fashioned they are? “  Jack wagged his head at his brother, but it was obvious he meant well.

Ben put on his stubborn look again, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, I didn’t  think I would have to defend myself over bringing my boyfriend home. ”

Charlie put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing in a soothing matter. “ maybe we should have give them some time. To take it in I mean.“ he said, and Luke already liked him. He seemed like a good match to his stubborn and self-willed brother.

Ben just rolled his eyes but seemed to relax a little.

“ Here you are, don’t put anything heavy on it.” She wedged the wrapped up  piece of cake into Bens hands and gave him a tight smile.

“ Give it some time.” She said.

 Ben nodded. “ Thank you. I  will call you tomorrow.” He gave her a quick hug.

“ Thank you Mrs. Hemmings.” Charlie smiled at her.

She returned the smile even though it looked really strained.  “Drive safely.“

“ I ll walk you to the car.” Jack offered and went outside with them, eyeing Charlie curiously.

Luke mentally rolled his eyes. Here we go again.  Will he ever learn his lesson???

“His mom said down  on the edge of the  couch zoning out  for a second.”

“ are you ok, mum? “ she didn’t seem to register him. “ Mom? “

“ what? Yeah, I am fine. Great. I have to clean the kitchen,. It’s a mess..”

Luke sighed. “ Wanna help?”

“ No, its ok.”

Luke went outside just in time to wave goodbye to his brother.

“ Cant believe , he never mentioned anything.” Jack wagged his head again.

“ like what?”

“ Like that he is gonna bring a male date on the dinner, should have seen dad face, I really thought he was gonna have a heart attack.

“ Well, I don’t think he should be ashamed to bring his date for a family dinner.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “ You know what I mean, how old fashioned they can be sometimes, it would be nice to just give them a little warning.”

Luke shrugged. “ Guess so.”

Luke called Calum that night.

“ Whats up,mate? Did they take it badly?” the omega sounded genuinely concerned.

“ Oh… well, no actually. They were surprisingly ok… with the beta thing.”

“ That’s wonderful. I told you, your folks might look scary, but you are their little rock star baby, they wouldn’t admit you are anything less than perfect.”

“ Shut up, I really doubt that. “ Luke cleared his throat and kept silent for a bit too long.

“ Is there something else? Spit it out, Hemmings.“

“ well… I know you just got home and you probably wouldn’t have time to..”

“ wanna grab a beer?”

“ well, yeah. It would be awesome.”

“ Give me half an hour. “

“ Ok. Thanks but you sure you wouldn’t rather be with your family?”

“Nah, I am glad to get out for a bit.”

“and your parents wont mind? “

“ Are you kidding me? Dad will be thrilled, you have pretty steady fanclub here, Hemmings. I might never outlive dad trying to put us together.”

Luke groaned. “ That’s awesome.” he said sarcastically while he heard a little giggling in the speaker.

“Its not so bad. Take it  from the better side, you always get a free meal at the Hoods. ”

Luke chuckled. He was really lucky to have a friend like Calum. Even though things sucked sometimes, he could always count on him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time - they will be celebrating Michaels Birthday! And it will be a mess! 
> 
> Hope you will stick with me for the onext one and you have a bit of time, leave a comment!   
> Love you   
> LM


	24. Sydney Again II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just read it! It

It was Michael’s birthday again and they got to celebrate it in Sydney this time. Luke wasn’t complaining, he was glad they were taking a little break from touring and writing for the time being. There was some heated argument about where the celebration should take place, and in the end they decided to go for a small private club because it was more fancy than house party but still private enough because they didn’t really intend to invite half of the city. On the contrary they tried to keep it more homy and only invited closest friends, the band, some of the crew, some of old friends they knew back from high school times, some of the new friends including the members of their opening act Hey Violet, and of course their respective girlfriends. Yet everybody brought someone and they brought other people and once it got around that Michael Clifford was celebrating his birthday, some people obviously found it ok to just invite themselves and somehow managed to sneak inside ( fuck the security) and kinda stole the party.

Half way through the night the club was so crowded, that it actually took quite a lot of time and effort to get from one end to the other, and finding someone in the mess of people also turned out to be quite a challenge.

And that exactly was the reason why Luke found himself few minutes after midnight  pretty drunk already, but still able to move around on his own,  surrounded by complete  strangers, and desperately searching for a familiar face. He had gone outside for a while because he was in a desperate need of some fresh air, he had had yet another argument with Arzaylea, after which she announced she would return back to the hotel, obviously edging him to plead with her to stay, which Luke refused to, so as far as he knew she left the party. Luke decided that he needed to be more drunk for this, so he aimed for the bar and kept ordering shots until he concluded, that he was drunk enough and went to find his friends. As he rose from the bar stool to go looking for them, his head began to spin, so he walked outside instead and stayed there for a bit.

When he came back, it seemed like everyone had disappeared while he was gone,  he searched the crowd for someone familiar, but strangely he didn’t recognize a single person, it almost seemed like he returned to the wrong club. He was reaching for his phone to call Ashton, when finally spotted Casey and Rena discussing something heatedly under a giraffe statue ( was it there when they came in? ). He headed off to them, carefully  squeezing through the people, hoping the two members of Hey Violet  won’t be swallowed by the crowd before he gets through to them.

“ Hi, Lukey.” Rena slurred and swung her arm around his shoulders, standing on the tips of her toes to be able to reach there. Clearly she also had a drop too much.

“ Hey. You ok? “

“ I am aaaawesome. Greeeeat party.”  She showed him a thumb up.

Casey rolled his eyes. “ yup, great party, but  maybe you should slow down, you wuss.”

“ whaaat?  I am totally sober.” Rena argued, glaring at her bandmate. Casey just snorted at her lame lie.

Luke chckled. They argued like an old married couple, if he didn’t know better , he would guess they were actually together.

“Have you seen someone? Calum or Ashton? Or Michael?” 

“No, the birthday boy disappeared with a girl, no idea who she is. Looks like he enjoys the night tough.” Luke furrowed his eyebrows, of course the idiot would leave his own party with a girl, leaving it up to them to play the hosts.

Rena giggled. “ yeah, he sure does. So does Calum.”

“ Calum? What’s up with calum?” Now it sounded more ominous, ever since Jimmy, Calum developed a habit of sleeping around now and then, obviously embracing his omega part of himself ( or the slut part of himself, like Luke liked to call it).  He had really hoped the omega would control himself at Michaels birthday party, but well, Michael didn’t either , so what?   “Does he behave?” he asked in the end, already regretting it.

“Well…it depends what you mean by behave, he-“

Rena started giggling again, and Casey shove his elbow into her ribs and put a hand over her mouth, shaking his head frantically. He clearly wasn’t as sober as he looked either if he thought he was being subtle.

Before he could question their weird behaviour, Miranda squeezed to them through the crowd, waving her purse as an improvised fan.

“ jeez, why is it so hot in here and  who the hell are all those people. I don’t know like any of them. How many people did Michael invite again?”

“Luke just shrugged his shoulders. “ I don’t think any of us invited them, they don’t seem to mind it though, do they?  ”

Rena chuckled. “ at least it’s a good paaarty.” She shouted and people around her started to turn their heads to them curiously.

Miranda gave them an awkward smile. “Jeez, how drunk is she? Weren’t you supposed to check on her.” She lashed out at Casey.

The guitarist shrugged. “ Not her dad, but well she could have skipped the last few shots.”

“ Last few…. Oh my goodness” Miranda let out a groan then wisely decided to change the topic. “By the way Have you seen Nia, the last time I got a glimpse of her was like two hours ago? She hadn’t left, had she?”

Casey and Rena exchanged pointed looks and simultaneously shook their heads. Than the bassist started giggling again, while Casey tried to stomp on her foot but missed and swayed dangerously. Yup, he definitely wasn’t sober.

Miranda rolled her eyes.  “Two drunk, one missing, why am I not even surprised? “

“Guys, what’s going on?”  Luke eyed them suspiciously, they were not telling them something.

 “Hi, guys.” sounded right next to them, and Luke turned around just to see they were joined by Ashton. “Have you by any chance seen Calum?” the drummer asked probably expecting a simple answer.

“well, Ashton, I think they did, they don’t want to tell us about it though.” Miranda crossed her arms over her chest.

Ashton looked from one to the other, apparently trying to process the information, and then frowned.  “What the fuck guys? “

 

“ hey, we didnt say anything like that. We have seen him somewhere around there… Rena pointed her hand vaguely into the direction of the bar. “but its been a while ago, we haven’t seen him since. And he seemed to be on the move.”

“ what do you mean he was on the move, did he leave the club? “ the alpha asked impatiently burning holes in the betas head. They were so drunk though, that they hardly seem to care. By now Luke felt like he could have brought popcorn. He wasn’t worried about the omega like Ashton was,  even though maybe he should be considering what happened at the party at the Hoods last year, but Calum had proved to be able to care about himself since then and also proved to be quite good at sneaking out on various occasions and coming back form wherever he was, so…. They kinda got used to it. Well, Ashton apparently didn’t. 

 

“ I think I am gonna throw up.” Rena mumbled out of sudden, effectively diverting everyone’s attention. The colour of her face suggesting that it wasn’t just trick to make them drop the topic.

 “Don’t barf on me.” Casey warned her.

“ Oh, man. I ll take her to the bathroom.” Miranda suggested and started dragging her band mate away.

Ashton sighed. “Looks like it is just us then, Michael disappeared with some girl. I bet we won’t see him for the rest of the night.”

Luke shrugged, he didn’t care, right? He suddenly lost all desire to remain at the party though. Suddenly a devious idea popped up in his head.

“So? What would you say if we moved it somewhere, let’s say more private? It really is getting too crowded here.” he suggested.

It seemed to catch Ashton’s attention.

“Have you bought a flat in Sydney you haven’t told us about, because I am sure as hell not breaking into you parents guest house. Not again!”

“ It’s been like ages ago!” Luke couldn’t believe they were still holding it against him.

“Oh. Is there a story? I smell a story, tell me! “ Casey begged.

Luke ignored him. “No! Jack is out of the Sydney and he left the keys to his flat at the house so that mum could come over to water his plants. And…” Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bunch of keys. “I borrowed them, kinda.”

“Jack, as in your brother Jack ? Does he know about it?” Casey looked impressed.

“Well, not exactly. But he owns me one, so…are you in?”

Ashton gave him a look. “I am not leaving without Cal.”

Casey chuckled. “And your girlfriend maybe?”

“ Yeah, right, her too. She went to the ladies room, she might be looking for us actually.” Ashton looked like he had just only remembered that.

“Ok, let’s find them and go.” Luke tried again, growing a bit impatient,  he didn’t like  the way some people on the left kept ogling them.

“So, have you actually seen Calum leaving or not?” Ashton pressed on Casey.

“Well, we actually did.” The guitarist finally caved in while scratching the back of his head in nervously. “Don’t worry, he was in a good company…”

“What company?” Ashton didn’t seem to appreciate the riddle game.

“Calm down, alpha!” Casey snorted. “He’s fine.” Then he mouthed  “ is he always like this? “towards Luke. The beta nodded solemnly.

“Uh..huh.”

 “What are you whispering about?”

“Nothing, it’s just the ringing in your ears,  you should take it easy with the drumming.”

“ ha ha, very funny!”

“ so are we going or not? “ luke asked again.

“Isn’t it impolite to leave your own party?”

“Its Michaels party, right? “ he smirked.

Ashton snorted. “ What’s got into you two again?”

Luke shrugged. “Nothing, the usual.”

“I think I see Miranda and Rena, looks like Bryana is with them too? They are waving at us. I will go over and tell them we are leaving then?

Ashton and Luke exchanged looks.

“Okay, ask them if they haven’t seen Michael, otherwise his loss, shouldn’t have ditched us for a girl.”

Casey went to push through the crowd to talk to the ladies, while Luke noticed some of the people around had been eyeing them curiously.

“Look like we should move our asses, the people are starting to creep me out. If we stand here for too long, they might try to talk to us. You in a mood for fan ambush? “

Ashto  threw him a terrified look. “ No, thanks.” Casey waved at them.  “Looks like they are moving to the exit, lest join them there.”

It took them half an hour to move to the street where Jack Hemmings was currently renting a small bachelor flat.

Ashton tried to call Calum like ten times, the omega not answering a single time. In the end Luke stole his phone and turned it off, so that he couldn’t keep dialling him for the rest of the night.  Ashton didn’t seem very happy about that, but Bryana gave him a meaningful look.

They had to wait for a while before the house, because the other taxi driver who brought Hey Violet probably took a hint that they weren’t exactly local, and didn’t take the quickest ( and cheapest) way to the destination.

Rena looked a bit greenish after climbing out of the car but insisted on being all right. Luke made a mental note keep her form more alcohol tonight.

Jacks flat was on the seventh floor, there was an elevator in the building, but they took the stairs anyway (everyone but Bryana who was wearing high heels and Ashton who kept her company.)  Casey didn’t like the elevators being a bit claustrophobic and Rena had an “ awesome” idea to race to see who will run up the stairs the quickest. Luke won actually, even though he was walking really slow, because the two “ runners” collapsed on the second floor and Miranda had to practically beg them to move on from the dirty floor there.

Luke was the one to unlock the door, and as he was about to type the code to switch off the alarm, he realized there was o beeping. Looked like his idiotic brother forgot to set it up when he left. Typical.

When he was walking the corridor to the living room, he heard some voices from his brothers bedroom, what the hell?  Had he not left after all?  

Ashton  and Bryana stopped dead in their tracks right behind him.

“Do you think its robbers?” Ashton whispered.

“ why would robbers take off their shoes and ehm, shirts?” the girl pointed at the mess on the floor.

“ It looks like …” Ashotn  started but was interrupted by a distinct and kind of familiar  “fuck” sounding from behind the bedroom door.

“ .. calums t shirt.” He finished with a growing terror in his eyes.

Bryana sucked in a breath.

“ hey , next time  I am so taking the elevator and leave the two of you die on the stairs. “ Miranda’s voice was was heard form he door way.

“ common, why don’t you want to play train with us.” Rena whined.

“ because you had me  being the engine and dragging you up like wagons… guys why are standing here all silent? Whats up? Has your brother not left after all? “

“ ehhhhm…” Lukes drunk brain seemed to have a mini failure.

“And why are Calums shoes on the floor…”

“Hey, it’s a nice flat. Is your brother living here with his girlfriend? Yaay, she’s got the same t shirt as Nia.” Luke turned around just in time to see Casey smacking the bassists head.

“ Oh , fuck.” Miranda apparently just  connected the dots and … “ oh, fuck!” she repeated for the lack of better expression.

“what? “ Rena kept looking at them. “ no one rushed to explain it to her though”

Another shuffling could be heard  from the bedroom.

“ Maybe we should just leave? “ bryana suggested hopefully.

“ well, we really didn’t know they were coming here.. I mean, how  comes that Calum has the keys from you brothers flat?” Luke stood there gaping at the guitarist, the question ringing in his head, he hadn’t even noticed what Casey just admitted.

Ashton of course did notice. “ You knew about that?”

“ Shish, maybe we should really just.” Bryana made a motion with her head towards the door.

“Well… not that they were coming here.” Casey defended himself.

“ Oh, you mean they are here.. Oh.”

“ Really, Rena? Could you be any slower on the uptake?”

The bassist didn’t answer. “ok, but I need to pee? Where is the bathroom, Luke? “

Luke showed her the door. He felt a dull pounding in his head, felt like he went right from being drunk to being hangover. His phone started ringing.

“He pulled it out, wanting to just switch it off quickly, but the moment he saw Michaels name on the display he changed his mind.

“Damn, its Michael.” He informed the others as he was answering the phone.

The door of the bedroom threw open and Nia appeared in it, shirtless, wearing just a bra.

<Mikey?>  Luke  even forgot he was still pissed at the guy and wasn’t supposed to call him Mikey at the time being.

<Where the fuck are you Hemmings? I can’t find like anyone of you, hell, I cant find anyone I would even know. Who the fuck are those people? Some of them are kind off scary, they keep asking me for an autograph and there was this girl who wanted me to sign her thongs, I barely got away. They weren’t even wasched! Not kidding!>

“ well, we are … ehmm..” Luke was watching Nia picking up her clothes form the floor.

“ Hi, what are you doing here, guys, anyway?” Nia shot them an awkward smile. “ Oh, Luke, would you mind..”

“ ehmm, what? “

“ you are standing on my t shirt:”

“ ehmm, sorry.” Luke quickly shuffled away.

<Was that Nia?  where the hell are you?> Michael asked him again, sounding like he had been running. <I called Ashton and Calum like hundred times? Are they with you? Why aren’t they answering? >  Good to know, Luke was on the Michaels last resort to call.

“ Ehmm… we turned Ashtons phone off..”

<Why the hell would you do that> “

Nia collected the rest of her clothes of the floor and disappeared again.

“ Because he wanted to call calum..” Luke blurted out before he could stop himself, his even at normal circumstences poorly functioning mouth filter stopped working altogether when he was stressed.

Ashotn reached for the phone but Luke dodged him.

“ what?.... wait, calum is not with you? “

“ well. .. technically he is, well, at least  all the evidence point to it.”

“ what evidence? What  the hell are you rambling about, are you high?  Oh fuck, the girl with the thongs is coming back…”

Rena exited the bathroom.

“ well, could we go now? “ Bryana pleaded.

“Now I need to pee.” Miranda sneaked into the bathroom before anyone could protest.

 “Am I the only one who really wants to know, why Calum has the keys to your brothers flat? “ Casey folded his arms over his chest, “are they hooking up? “

“ What ? No. NO! Calum is not sleeping with my brother!” Luke shook his head frantically, his  shouted completely forgetting about the phone that was still pressed to his mouth.

“ Luke? “ Oh fuck.

<WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY? CALUM IS SLEEPING WITH YOUR BROTHER!?!>

 “No. Not sleeping, I said they are _not sleeping together_!”

<What the hell? Where are you?>

“ … ehmmm, Jacks flat? “

There was deadly silence on the other end. <Is it the flat they are _not sleeping together_ in? >

“ NO… yes. I mean…you totally misunderstood.” Ashton clearly had enough and snatched the phone from Luke.

“I am not sleeping with your brother, sorry, he just kind lent me the keys?” Luke turned his head sharply in the direction of the berdroom door, which Calum finally decided to exit, his hair was a mess and there was a deep blush on his cheeks, He was looking at Luke like a puppy who just chewed on a pair of expensive shoes.

“ you… “ Luke pointed at him and then he felt an ominous twitching behind his eyeballs, sign of an impending migraine. “ I .. fuck… kill you!”

“ could you fucking calm down…” Luke heard Ashton shrieking into the phone “ jack is not even in the city… I don’t know… fuck where is your damned brother again, Luke? “ he turned to the blonde.

“ dead.” Luke said in a creepily serious tone.

“ Don’t kill him, I kinda black mailed him into this? “ Luke gave calum and incredulous look.

“ did he also blackmail him ito allowing you to wear his t shirts.” Luke said upon taking a closer look at the top Calum was wearing.

Calum grew even redder. “Mine is kinda dirty…”

And , yuck!!! “ Please stop talking.” Luke dropped his aching head into his palms.

Rena started giggling.  

“ Common, give him a break.” Nia appeared next to calum and threw her arm around the omegas waist.

And Luke thought the night couldn’t get weirder.

Ashton took a deep breath. “Michael is coming over… don’t look at me like this, I tried to talk him out of it!  But he insisted on it… and kept rambling about some thong girl  chasing him or whatever. I am just.. just done with  this band.. just done..” Ashton looked genuinely pissed now, he looked over at Calum and Nia and threw his phone at Luke who barely managed to catch it. ( the phone didn’t do anything wrong, Ashton!) and left.

The air got even thicker in the room after that.

“Could I have some water?” Rena asked weakly, the amount of alcohol she consumed catching up with her again obviously.

“ yeah….” Luke mumbled.

“ So, what are you lot doing here? We weren’t exactly expecting you?” Nia tried to end the awkward silence.

“ No kidding.” Casey snorted.

“ I should probably go after Ashton.”  Bryana who still seemed the most uncomfortable with the situation suggested and left.

“ Ok… well, we wanted to have some after party party, and Luke offered this place,  not such a great idea actually…” Miranda explained.

“ Oh, yeah ,well… sorry…. It didn’t occur to us, someone could come here.” Calum rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying hard not to look Luke in the eyes.

Luke on the other hand tried hard no to look at Nias hand rubbing softly up and down Calums side.

“ so.. we should probably go? “ Miranda suggested, “ I mean like all of us!” she added, giving their drummer a pointed look.

“ Okay, okay.” Nia removed her hand away from Calums waist. “ Where is Casey? “

 “Bathroom.” Nia said and Luke rolled his eyes.

 “ Ok, I ll just collect my things.” Nia pointed back to the bedroom awkwardly.

Luke heard Casey leaving  the bathroom and decide to take the next turn, he didnt really have to go, he just wanted some time with himself to calm down and chase away the migraine.

When he escaped the bathroom, Hey Violet were on their way out, they exchanged awkward goodbyes and Luke remained alone in the flat with the omega who was sitting on his brothers couch looking like he was about to be executed.

“Are you mad?” Calum asked him sheepishly.

“It depends…. What do you have with my brother?”

 Calum made a sour face.“Oh.. jeeez nothing.”

“ So how come, that you happen to have the keys to his flat?”

“ I… he invited me for  a beer and he wanted to apologize for the … you know.. the last year.”

“ and?”

“and he asked me if he could just make it up to me or something? “

Luke waited for him to continue.

“ I said.. _you could lend me the keys form your flat, while you are out of town-_ because, well, you know how my family is, I could use a little bit of privacy when here… I love them, but sometimes they drive me crazy… but well, I didn’t even mean it , it was more of a joke, I didn’t exactly expect him to say yes! But when he did… I thought, why the hell not? “

Luke   “ why the hell not?  Are You serious? “

“ I know, I know, It wasn’t my brightest moment. Well, not today either… like things just got a little heated at the party, and we needed a place to go.”

Luke shoot him an non impressed look. “ So, what about the hotel, maybe? ”

“ We thought about it, but Nia is rooming with Rena, and well.. we kinda assumed she would be dead beat before 2 am, and would come back to the hotel and. “

Luke rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t you rent another room? “

“ well, this seemed more private and well, safe.”

Well, Luke had to admit, that it wouldn’t look verygood if someone recognized Calum Hood from 5sos and Nia lovelis from Hey Violet, in the middle of the night renting a room for one night  at a hotel.

“ Luke? I am really sorry. I wasn’t thinking…”

“I don’t know… I kinda understand the flat, maybe. But Nia? Really, after what happened with Michael?  They might open up for us next tour too, what things are weird, because of this. Couldn’t you just  hook up with some one else? Anyone? “

“ well.. we are not really ...you know, hooking up?” calum smiled at him shyly and at first Luke didn’t really take the hint?

“ what… what do you mean by you are not hooking up?”

“ I mean we are kinda going out? I mena, we hadn’t talk about tit yet, we are just going with the flow.”

Luke was so taken of guard that he even forgot about his hangover for a moment. “wow, when did that happened?”

“ well, back in LA…”

“ so this wasn’t the first time?” Luke gestured widely with his arms.

“ ehmm, no?”

“ Holly shit. Was it the first you were in here?”

“ Ehmm, do you really want me to answer? “

“ CALUM!?! “ Luke swiftly got off the couch. “ I could really kill you know,.”

Luke felt his headache coming back. And his fucking phone started ringing.

“Its Michael, he is outside.” Luke said and hung up.

Calum face looked like someone just stepped on it.

“ maybe.. we should go and meet him outside? “ Luke suggested . “ Like does he even know about Nia.”

“ No.” Calum curled into himself even more.

“ wonderful.” Luke wagged hi head. “Well. Lets just meet him there.”  His phone started ringing again.

  
 “Calm down, we are going downstairs,  sorry birthday boy, the after party is cancelled… well, everyone just got sleep and you know left. …. No Calum is still in here….. yeah, he is alright…. Well, we can still go our guest house.. hey, it wont be like that one time… my mom had promised to stay out of it….. oh Ashton had already left too.. …. I am pretty sure Calum will explain it to you himself … right..”

Calum looked at him with desperate plea in his eye, and Luke had to remind himslef all the times the omega got him out of trouble.

“ Ok… maybe tomorrow tough, he looks a bit… hangover…no you don’t have to,  we are going down now.”

Calum looked at him with relieve in his eyes.

The didn’t come back to the party that night, they dropped the terribly hangover calum at his house…and went to get some private after party, at Michaels  granny’s house, because Michael still didn’t trust Lukes mother not to jump at them in th middle of the night with a baseball bat again, like that tiem when she was  thinking there were squatters stealing inside….

TBC

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, its not what you might have been expecting, but the next chapter will explain a lot!   
> Also - it will be the last chapter of the first part of the story, the one dealing with Calum presenting. The second part will move us to 2017/18 and and it will deal with what happens before, during and after lUkes presentation! I will explain in the next chapter!   
> Until then, see you and if you feel like it, leave a comment!   
> Love you   
> LM


	25. Sydney Again III.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, Muke alone in Michaels grannys house. and a little glimpse into Ashotns heart!

Michael and Luke were currently half sitting half lying on the sofa-bed in Michaels granny’s house drinking Australia Draught. Luke had a feeling that he probably shouldn’t drink anymore, since he had had enough already but couldn’t resist.

Suddenly Michael turned to Luke and the beta already knew this look, the one that was spelling trouble.

“So what was it with Cal and your brother again? You said he owed Cal for something and that’s how Calum got at the keys to his flat?”

“Yup.” Luke hoped the alpha would stop prying into it now but he wasn’t that lucky.

“And what exactly Calum did for your brother, that he could ask for the key to his flat?”

“Aaa, we’ve been through this, ask him yourself.”

“Common, what could be so terrible that you have to keep it a secret?” the alpha urged him. “You just make me more curious.” Michael was making the puppy eyes at him again. The fucker was well aware  that he couldn’t resist those. Lukes resolve to at least pretend to be still a little mad at the alpha was crumbling.

Luke heard a pop, and suddenly Michael was handing him another bottle of beer. Lame try to get him even more drunk than he already was to coax the secret out of him,  he thought, but he took the bottle anyway.

“ I am mad, you know.” he stated out of sudden effectively drawing Michaels attention.

The alpha rose his eyebrows in confusion.

“You are only being nice to me lately, when you want to find out something about Calum.” Luke complained.

It was gloomy in the room, because they didn’t bother to switch on the main light, so Luke couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed like Michaels eyes softened a little bit.

“Are you jealous?” Michael cooed at him grinning mischievously.

Luke looked at him like he lost his mind, but a hint of blush crept into his cheeks. Suddenly he was very aware of how close the two of them were sitting, their shoulders almost touching, it was strange to be alone like this, there were usually tons of other people around them or at the very least their other bandmates.

Michael laughed at his blush. “You are so easy.”  Then he sneaked his arm around the other guitarist’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, you are my second favorite member of 5sos.”

“Second?” Luke turned to him faking being offended. “who is the first?”

Michael chuckled. “It’s me of course, I am the best.”

Luke rolled his eyes.” And if you had a flaw, it would be modesty .” Luke chuckled but as he breathed in he couldn’t help but notice the smell of sweat and cologne clinging to Michaels T-shirt, it smelt nice maybe nicer than a sweaty T shirt should  at the end of a drinking night.

Michael snorted and pulled him into a headlock, choking him for a moment before letting go. “ If I had a flaw, it would be bad taste in friends.”

“ Oh, ho. Here we go.” Luke laughed nudging Michael into his ribs ignoring the tingly feeling Michael’s arm left on his neck. He took another sip of the beer and asked in what he hoped  to be a neutral tone. “What about Calum though, isn’t he your favorite member?”

Michael kept silent for a long moment, before he decided to answer. “Nope. He’s a sneaky little bitch, ad he pisses me of.” He said and took another sip of the beer.

Wow, that was definitely unexpected. Michael getting over Calum, unbelievable.  

“ Common, I don’t believe you. He’s got you wrapped around his finger.” Luke snorted and wriggled his little finger in front Michaels face, obviously pissing the alpha off because the next moment Michael set the beer aside and  grabbed  him by the back of his neck digging his fingernails painfully into the soft skin there while trying to tackle him down.

“You are a cunt, you know.“ Luke squeaked and tried to wriggle out of the others grasp shivering slightly at the touch.  When Michael finally let go, he took a gulp of his beer hoping the alpha hadn’t noticed his weird behavior.

 “Of course he’s got me wrapped around his finger, like everyone, even you  …just admit it!”

Luke wanted to protest and than he remembered everything he let the omega get out with lately and it dawned on him that the alpha might be actually right.

“You see? Sneaky little bitch.” Michael said again, but there was no real heat behind his words, it sounded almost lovingly.

Luke sighed. “But I am your favorite band mate, right?” he asked. His mouth filter failing again.

“Of course you are, don’t boast too much though, I reserve the right to change my mind.” The alpha smirked and side hugged him again. By now Luke gave it up, he couldn’t be mad at the alpha anymore, he always forgave him too easily.

A smile grew on his lips. He felt  sudden urge to just lay his head on the older’s shoulder, they’ve done that before, growing up in each other’s shoes taught them not to be shy around each other , but Luke still hesitated because, well, considering his confusing feelings about the alpha, he didn’t need to get more confused than that.

Michael was totally oblivious to his inner struggle though, before Luke could protest he pulled him closer until he was basically pressed into his right side.

Luke let out a small but very unmanly giggle, which he immediately felt ashamed for. He had to admit though that the warmth seeping from Michaels body felt nice, the night wasn’t exactly chilly, but it felt good anyway. The beer was making Luke a bit lightheaded, his previous soberness caused by the shock  had been buried by a new wave of alcohol and Luke could only imagine how he would look in the morning. Wait, it was already morning, like it was almost 5 am. It would explain why he was feeling so sleepy, no the tingly feeling though.

They were lying in silence for a moment, both lost  in their thoughts.

This place hold so many memories, so much have changed since they were gathering here as kids, yet the place still looked the same and in a way it all seemed like yesterday. Luke would like to say that he had changed magnificently too, that he had grown up, yet he still felt like a child.

Sure, when it came to music he grew a lot, performing, writing, recording.. he learned to do all that stuff. But when it came to all the other things, he still felt like a little kiddie. At least in compares to his bandmates. Ashton had a girlfriend, Calum apparently did too now and Michael at least seemed to be having  some fun, now that he hopefully finally got over his Calum obsession.  And then there was Luke, who still secretly at the very bottom of his heart harbored a wish that things could go back to how they were before. That he could turn back time and  it  could be just them again, the little 5SOS pack, not just Ashton plus girlfriend, Calum plus girlfriend and Luke plus girlfriend. And Michael plus… his future girlfriend, sure he will not be alone forever, he will find something serious one day,  but for some reason the idea seemed really uncomfortable to Luke. Like even more uncomfortable that the idea of his other bandmates settling down.

Sometimes he wished they could make a pack. But it wasn’t so easy , packs weren’t very common anymore. At least in the western culture, they were kinda looked down on. And what would his role as a beta be in it anyway? The peace maker? The dispute settler? Somehow it did seem like exactly what would suit him, but at the same time it didn’t feel like something that could make him happy. He had it in his nature to calm down disputes, to settle things, tom make compromises, yet sometimes he was afraid he was kinda loosing himself in the middle of it, in the middle of dealing with other peoples shit.

But, what the hell?  When he thought about it, he ve made it so far over the last few years,  that he really had no right to complain. So what if everything wasn’t perfect and ideal? So what if he didn’t understand everything that was going on in hi slife right now?  Luke would make the sense of it in the end, he was sure of it. Even if he didn’t know why he felt this way right now, he would find his answers one day,  even if  he felt like he didn’t fit in  the role of beta, he will learn to deal with it. So what if he didn’t know how to be an adult, he will figure it out. It can’t be that difficult, if his brother somehow figured it out (well, at least theoretically), he could too!

As he was lost in his thoughts suddenly something occurred to Luke.

“How come you didn’t stay with the girl you met tonight anyway?” he asked Michael, who looked like he would fall asleep any moment.

The question seemed to wake him up though and he pulled away from Luke slightly. “Nah,  she wasn’t my type.” He answered simply but Luke sensed there was something more to the story.”

“Oh, common! What happened? Tell me!”

Michael opened his mouth to tell him to fuck off but suddenly his embarrassed frown turned into a Cheshire grin. “Hah! If you tell me what the deal with Calum and Jack was, I tell you why I left!” Luke  rolled his eyes at the childish idea.

“I can’t tell you , it  is not my secret to tell. And I am not that interested in your love life anyway.” Plus he really did not want  to ruin the night  by talking about how his idiotic brother sexually harassed Calum in the bathroom.

Michael was watching the beta closely while he was considering his options ( tell or not to tell)  and Luke could see he was growing suspicious.

“They didn’t sleep together, did they? “ the alpha tried again.

Luke let his body sink down on the bed.

“What is it? Like 20th time you asked me this today?“

“Alright, alright.” The alpha grumbled. “But you being so secretive about it gets me a little worried, you know? You would tell me, if it was something serious, right?”

Luke kept silent. What would Michael consider as serious?

Michal looked down at him. “Luke?”

The beta still didn’t say a thing. “Lucas!” Michael raised his voice obviously not happy with being ignored. And Luke would really love to tell him, if anything else just to get him of his back, because what was the deal anyway, Ashton already knew too.

Luke sat up again, looking at Michael a bit sheepishly. “If I tell you… you promise, you won’t tell Calum I did?”

“Just spit it out!”

“ Michael!” Luke whined.

“ Ok, ok, I promise…. What did he do?”

“Well, do you remember how Calum went into heat at the party at his house last year?” Michael visibly tensed “yeah?” he asked.

“well, they kinda bumped into each other in the bathroom and…”

“ and he told him to go fetch you? Right… oh no, don’t tell me he actually did something to him?!” Michaels voice immediately turned more serious.

Luke squirmed  “kinda… yeah, but..” he dared to look up at Michael  and the alphas face looked really dark.  
“ … nothing happened, like he just… got a bit handsy with him”

“what?” Michael snarled.  

“well, not exactly handsy , he hadn’t touched him or anything like that. Just maybe scared him  a little bit?”

“ scared him?” now Michael  looked confused.

“ Nothing happened, ok? “ Luke repeated. “Jack just made a few remarks, and got a little too close…” Fuck that was difficult to explain! “and than Calum told him to go get me and he did, and well, he felt really bad about it later, so he apologized to Calum and offered to make it up to him. Hence the keys…”

Michael didn’t say anything, seemingly pondering the whole situation.

“Nothing happened.” Luke repeated sounding a bit desperate even to his own ears.

“ But you weren’t  there, so how can you tell?” Michael asked.

“ Well, Jack told me… and Calum, both of them said the same. Why would they lie about that.  Especially Calum?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders as if to say. _I could think of a reason or two._

Luke sighed. “I am sorry, don’t be mad at Jack, he was a bit drunk and well, it was a fucked up situation.”

“I am not. Would be a little hypocrite if I did.” the alpha  finished the beer he had in his hand in one go  and lied down next to Luke.

Luke looked at him in surprise. He didn’t look mad at all, just a little sad. Wow, he hadn’t expected for it to go so smoothly.

“You sure?” he asked carefully.

Michael let out a huff. “It’s not my business anyway, Nia can deal with your brother if she wants.”

At first, Luke thought he heard wrong. “ Nia?!!!”

“ Yeah… shit, you haven’t  noticed . Have you?”

“ Ehmm, what? “ Luke felt like he was missing out something.

“ There has been something going on between the two of them..” Michael whispered in a suspiciously neutral voice. Looks like he wasn’t the oblivious one in the end, him and Ashton were!

Ok, that made things actually a little easier. “Yeah.. I mean, I noticed… something.” Luke stammered.

Michael scoffed. “Really? They have tried to be sneaky about it. I thought you and Ash had no clue? Guess I was wrong.” Well, he wasn’t actually wrong!

“Well, we noticed…. A little bit of … “ Luke remembered Nias hand sneaking around Calums waist and shuddered. He decided to change the topic before he could get anymore embarrassed and  Michael could start questioning how they found out.

 “Anyway, you still haven’t told me what happened with that girl.”

Michael froze. “ well… not too much.”

“ no, no , no , no , no! we made a deal, remember? So the truth mister!”

Michael opened another bottle clearly trying to buy himself some time and took a gulp. “ she turned out to be a bit too young.” He admitted reluctantly.

Luke whistled “How young? 17?”

Michael kept quiet.

Luke looked at him in disbelief?“16?”

“ ehmm.”

“ 15?” now Luke was just staring at him.

“ 14?” Michael peeped out. “ but she looked older, I swear.”

Luke spat out the beer he tried to drink and his eyes popped. “ did you really sleep with her?” he asked in a terrified voice.

“ what, NO! Of course not. We only made out a little bit. And she looked like 19 or so! I swear! I had no idea that she was so young until  it came up somehow  and she started fidgeting and I got suspicious and then she admitted being 14.”

“ Wow! That’s fucked up man,  you almost became a pedophile!”

Michael rolled over onto his stomach hiding his face in the cushion. “ I wouldn’t sleep with her right anyway, what do you think of me!” Luke just shrugged, it wouldn’t be a first time he hooked up with a stranger he thought but didn’t say it aloud. “But yeah.. Its fucking scary! “ the alpha mumbled into the pillow. “ I so will want to see some ID form now on.”

Luke started cackling. “ Or you could stop fucking around.”

“ hey! It’s not so easy to find someone stable with this life style.”

“ I know.” Luke smiled sympathetically.  “How did she even got to the club” he wondered.

“I have no idea, probably like the rest of the people.”

Luke nodded solemnly. “So what did you do with her?”

“ I paid her a taxi and send her home. Hopefully she wont talk about it to her parents or someone.”

Luke chuckled. “ Guess who took over the title of the licentious musician?” he couldn’t help but burst out laughing at his own joke.

 “What the fuck are you talking about. I kissed her… Just kissed! I wasn’t even close to ….  You know!” Luke was still laughing. “Just wait you little…” with that, he threw himself at the beta, squishing him into the mattress and started tickling him mercilessly.

After a while Luke managed to turn himself around so he could defend himself and the two guitarist kept rolling around like little kids trying to tickle each other to death.

“ Uncle, uncle…” Luke finally gave up after what felt like hours.

Michael shifted himself   away from him still laughing silently. Luke couldn’t catch his breath either, he felt like his diaphragm was in his throat.

 

The more he calmed down, the more he realized the position they were in. They were lying side by side next to each other, Michaels right leg crossed over Lukes left one, both of them, breathing heavily as if they just finished the set.

When he turned his head to the left, he could see Michael was watching him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

“ what?” He asked a strange nervousness suddenly creeping into his voice.

“Nothing.” The alpha answered but didn’t look away.

Suddenly Luke felt an inexplicable urge to  just reach his hand and run the fingertips over the slightly chopped lips of the guitarist. He clenched his hand into a fist, he shouldn’t do that, he shouldn’t even think about it. Jeez, what was wrong with him.

Out of sudden Michael placed his hand on his stomach, feeling arund a little bit. Lukes breath hitched in his throat.

“You lost some weight.” Michael commented in a slightly husky voice.

“I didn’t.“ Luke answered without thinking and  grabbed Michaels hand on reflex trying to push it away, because the soft rubbing was doing weird things to him. He had a strange sense of dejavous and a second later he realized to his great horror what the situation actually reminded him of. The fucking dream, in which he was making out with Michael behind the cabin.

Michaels fingers grabbed at the soft muscles around his belly. “You so did.” He said.

“ I didn’t, just got a little taller.  That’s all.” Luke mumbled out, trying to focus on anything else but the hand on his stomach. Normally he wouldn’t have problem with pushing the alphas hand away and maybe slapping him one, but now he felt like the comfortable drowsiness caused by alcohol and being awake whole night made him unable to make a move.

 Michael slid his hand higher, letting it rest against Lukes ribcage. Luke felt his heart speeding up, he was having hard time to wrap his head around why his body was reacting like this. Its not like they hadn’t been this close before, maybe it was because of the alcohol. Then out of sudden Michael went and pinched his right nipple painfully. Luke let out a surprised squeak.

Michael started laughing and reached for the forgotten bottle of beer. Luke felt  blood running to his cheeks. Luckily it was quite dark in the room. Slowly he rubbed his injured nipple, it was all achy from Michaels assault, but it wasn’t just pain what he felt, the left over sting was sending sparks of something down his spine. He let out a shaky breath. Great, now he was getting aroused! What the hell!

When he looked aside, he spotted Michael watching him curiously.  “Someone is a bit sensitive here.” The alpha sneered, but there was something else than mockery in his voice. Luke quickly moved his hand away.

“ fuck off.” he grunted.

Michael kept chuckling under his breath and Luke could tell he was pretty drunk by now. Suddenly something sparked in Michaels eyes and Luek could tell he was in trouble, before he could react though the alpha rolled over onto him, hitched his shirt up and out the way and without a slightest warning attacked his nipples, not pinching them painfully  like before, but rubbing them not very softly either.  He was clearly trying to make a point.

Luke tried to push his hands away, but he was drunk and the alpha was bigger( even if not taller ) and stronger, and definitely had the advantage in this situation because he was sitting on Lukes lap, effectively immobilizing him.

“ stop it.“ Luke gritted out but couldn’t stop a moan slipping out of his mouth.

Michael laughed. “ you are soo sensitive! Luke Hemmings have sensitive nipples, you could put it on a T-shirt.”

Luke tried his best to glare at the guitarist and not just blush like a fucking virgin. “ you are fucking drunk?”

“ Do you let girls touch them too? “ Michael giggled, obviously way more drunk than he looked like.

“ you are so fucking out of it. Are you even listening what comes out of your mouth?”

Michael just laughed and tried to twist Lukes left nipple again.

Luke grabbed his hand though and glared at him, getting over the initial shock,  “get the fuck off me before I kill you.” Michael didn’t move but stopped groping him.

Luke could feel more of his blood running to his cheeks, when suddenly he became uncomfortably aware of the fact that Michael was indeed still sitting on his lap. He felt a familiar pang in his lower abdomen. Fuck,  he couldn’t get hard, not now. It would be so fucking embarrassing!

“Get off.” Luke quickly pushed himself up and  managed to shake the drunken Michael off. The alpha was lying on his side now, still staring at Lukes face intently.

Luke didn’t know what made him blush more, if Michaels staring or the fact that his jeans were continuously getting tighter.

He always admired Michaes art of seduction without saying a word. He had this really mastered.  First there was the look, the _interested_ look, that made  the one on the receiving end  feel kinda special. Than he kinda looked all over them and usually  stopped his eyes somewhere around their lips. Like he did right now, except  it was Lukes lips and the beta  couldn’t help but unconsciously wet them with his tongue, suddenly very self conscious of them.

When he caught himself again he saw Michael biting at his lower lip still staring at Lukes mouth, then he gulped.

“ you are actually quite pretty.” he said in the end.

Luke started, he didn’t think he heard right. “Wh—what??” he stammered out.

Michael reached over and grazed his finger against Lukes cheek.

“ too pretty for a beta, its such a waste.” He mumbled.

Luke was so consternated that he forgot how to speak, nor he really know what  to say. Or do! Like maybe he should push him away, he was clearly really drunk!

“ so glad you are not an alpha.” Michael carried on drunkenly “ I would never have a chance with a girl with an alpha like you around. “

“ mikey..” Luke whispered, his voice getting  a little desperate. Maybe it was good thing that Michael was so drunk, because at least he wont notice he was giving Luke a fucking boner.

The alpha fixed his eyes back to Lukes face and Luke couldn’t look away if he wanted. Michael had to see something in the way Luke was looking at him because his expression suddenly turned more sincere  and next moment he was leaning over. He moved his fingers form the betas cheek to grip at his jaw while simultaneously propping up the other arm and pressing his lips into Lukes.

Luke remained completely frozen for a moment, his eyes awkwardly open, unable to decide what he should do.

Then he felt Michaels  lips moving against his, and he couldn’t help but let out a whine, Michael took advantage of the slit between his lips and not wasting any time pushed his tongue into his mouth. Luke didn’t do much, he just laid there,  and let Michael explore his mouth and the warmth spread through body, he was so fucking hard now that it began to feel uncomfortable. Was it really happening? He was so scared and aroused at the same time, his brain couldn’t decide if he should join in the kiss or flee.

Then Michael let out a soft grunt and this one silent noise made Luke lose it. He squeezed his eyes shut and finally let go, he couldn’t believe how much he needed it! He fucking needed it and didn’t even know it!   It was his only his mouth Michael’s tongue explored  but he felt it all over his body. He circled his hands around Michaels waist in a desperate attempt to bring him closer.

 It seemed to wake up the guitarist though, because not a second later he jerked away as if being burnt, staring at Luke with an alarmed expression.

“Fuck… I … “ Michael rambled

Luke didn’t dare to say a word, he was afraid to even breath.

“ I… sorry, guess I am way more drunk than I thought.” The alpha climbed off him hastily, swaying a little and moved to the other side of the bed.

“ fuck… sorry Luke! I  guess, I just need to get laid… badly.” He tried to explain awkwardly. The silence was stretching.

Luke felt like he should probably say something to dissolve the tension a little bit. “ Its okay…. Ehmm,  it was just a kiss, right?” his voice sounded so calm that Luke  almost felt like it was someone else talking not him, because he was anything but calm, his heart was pounding in his chest, his brain was on overload, and as the realization what just happened was slowly dawning on him he suddenly he felt like he will be sick.

He quickly sat up, and the room span a little. “ Look, let’s just not.. not make it a big deal.” silent snoring sounded next to him.

Was he kidding him? Did he just fall asleep? Right after kissing him? Right after getting him into this mess? Of course he did! Dammit, Michael! Luke fell back into the mattress. His heart was still racing and he felt  like if he would move too much, he would probably throw up. The last hint of arousal gone by now, Luke suddenly felt really ashamed instead. He couldn’t t understand why he fucking did what he did, well Michael did that actually, but Luke didn’t push him away, did he? Was he really attracted to him that much?

Oh, he was fucked. Sooo fucked!

Michael didn’t remember a thing in the morning. At first Luke thought he was just avoiding the subject, but he wasn’t such a good actor, and he definitely couldn’t pretend something like that.  He didn’t like sharing his thoughts and pains with the rest of the band but you could always tell by the way he was acting that something was up. But the only thing that seemed to concern him in the morning was how the hell did they ended up drinking all the beer in the house.

Needless to say, Luke felt like complete tool, once he managed to shake off the terrible hangover, he was left alone with the images of the drunken Michael trying to slip his tongue into his mouth. They were still very vivid and they weren’t dreams like  usual. Luke never wished more to have a blackout that this time, Yet he remembered everything, every single fucking detail of the night  with such a clarity as if his life depended on it.

And one thing he could tell for sure, he never experienced something like that ever, not with his girlfriend, not with any other girls he had kissed. And it fucking scared him. He might be okay with being bisexual, it was pretty common even among betas, but what if he was gay. It would be a fucking catastrophe. Not to mention he kinda cheated on his girlfriend, well who he was kidding he DID cheated on her and no matter how many excuses he could think of  ( like being drunk, just fooling around with a friend and blah blah) it didn’t change a thing he wronged her and felt like a shit about it and he probably should tell her, yet there was this one little hitch, Michael didn’t remember and if he told Arzaylea he most likely would have found out.  Which was something Luke would rather avoid.

He wasn’t the only one in the band who will probably not think back to  these Michaels birthday with a smile on his face, Ashton had apparently fallen out badly with Bryana after leaving the “after party”.

He didn’t really want to talk about it, even though they all offered to listen, and even refused to disclose what they were arguing about.

They moved to LA  a week after that and everyone kinda expected them to reconcile when they will be able to spend soem time together there, but they  actually broke up a week later, leaving everyone taken aback by the sudden split up.

They served some busy schedules shit to the media, yet everyone even remotely close to them knew that it would make no sense to break up now, when they actaully had more time for each other.

Yet Ashton kept the real reason behind their split to himself. It was too painful, or to awkward maybe, definitely too complicated.

He hadn’t really expected Bryana to be the one to end things, but he had to admit he had probably should have seen it coming.

He remembered how they met for a dinner and he had a hunch something was wrong, she seemed more silent than usual, and she seemed to ignore all his tries to cheer her up. She barely touched the food, he had cooked for her and then she suddenly dropped the bomb.

“ We should break up.” he was so surprised that the fork slipped out of his hand and hit the floor with a loud clang.

“ Bry..”

“ Listen, please. Its not working, and I think you know why.”

“ what’s not working? I don’t understand. We’ve been good together.”

“ Yeah, we have. Haven’t  we?” she gave him a bittersweet smile.

“ Yes, we have.” He reached over the table and clutched her hand.” So what’s the problem.” He smiled at her, he was still hoping it was some minor misunderstanding. She was his rock in this confused mess of life, he didn’t want to lose her.

“ I don’t want … a _good_ relationship. Call me naive or romantic but I want someone who will be able to give everything to me, his whole heart, who will … be able to return all the feelings I give to him. Is it too much?”

“ No, it’s not. I love you, I love you so much.”

“ I know you do, but it’s not enough. You know, you can’t give me your whole heart.”

Ashton kept silent for a moment. “What do you mean I cant…”

“ You cant because.” Bryana took another deep breath. “Because its somewhere else.”

“ what are you talking about.”  Ashton unconsciously hardened the grip on her hand.

She carefully stroke over his long fingers, then slipped her hand form under his and sat back in her chair.

“ its better like this…”

“ I don’t understand.”

“ you do. And you should tell him.”

“ what are you..”

“ ash…. Why do you have to be so stubborn? I know you love me, I know you tried so hard to make it work, to make us work! But I always kinda knew I ve never been the one for you, and it hurts. “ she stopped for a moment and her eyes looked kinda glossy. “I don’t want to deal with the pain anymore. I want someone who will love me and only me. And your heart will always be…. Calums.” She said it finally and looked him right in the eye.

Ashton huffed. “That’s what this is all about? That’s never gonna happen.”

“ well, maybe not! Maybe you will find someone who you will be able to love as much as him, or more. But that’s not me, I ve lied myself  that it could change, that if he found someone, you could get over him, but he’s with Nia now, and you still love him so much!”

“Bry…”

“ No, don’t deny it. I know you Ashotn.”

The alpha hanged his head in defense. “its never gonna happen.” He repeated stubbornly. “He’s my friend, that’s it.”

Bryna sighed. “ I can’t tell you what to do, I just think that I owed you the truth, didn’t want to make up some lies and cover ups. I still love you, you know.”

“ Then let’s try again, I ll try harder, I will work less, I will spend more time with you, you are so important to me, I don’t wanna lose you.”

“ the work is not a problem, I would be ok with being the second one to your music career. But I  am not ok being the second one to Calum. You love his so much, I don’t think you even realize it. You keep talking about him, worrying about him, It sometimes feels like he is still with us, wherever we go, on beach, to the movies, in bed…”

Ashton stared at her with unreadable expression, she could feel he was closing up to her.

She sighed again. “ ash? “ she reached her hand to him.

He flinched away. “I wish you could understand, I don’t do it because I don’t love you, I just love you too much.” 

Ashton didn’t say anything.

“ I will go no. Let you think about it. we can meet up later and talk. “ she suggested and offered him a small smile.

“ Ok.” Was everything he said. She sighed and  with that she left and he stayed there sitting in the big beautiful LA apartment , all alone, trying hard not to cry. Why couldn’t he just find his happiness for once, why did people keep leaving him. Was he so hard to love? He wanted to hate Bryana for breaking his heart, but deep down  he knew she was right after all. She couldn’t break his heart, it was already broken, and the other half was in possession of the bassist and only omega member of 5sos Calum Thomas Hood. And it was only when they were together, that he actually felt complete. And he couldn’t blame Bryana for wanting someone who could love her with his whole heart,even though it would be so easy.  He was just really scared that he will never find out anyone who he could love as much as Calum.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT MESSAGE!  
> I consider the first part of the story finished!  
> The second part will take place during the Youngblood tour and will deal with Lukes presentation.   
> I will create a separate story for this, so I will mark this as finished! so dont be afraid, i am not letting go of this story! I will let you know about the second part!   
> ALSO I willbe pretty busy in a next few weeks,sodont worry if it takes some time for me to update!  
> MORE IMPORTANTLY if youliked the little muke action in this one, there will be lot of it in the next part!


	26. LA 2017

The summer 2017 was really fucking hot in LA. They had all moved here because, considering how much time they were already spending in the city, it only made sense for them to put down roots here. They were doing their recordings here and most of the artists they were collaborating with were settled here too, so it was a reasonable decision to make. That didn’t mean they didn’t miss home like crazy. That made them only stick together more though, four Australian Musketeers trying to prove themselves once again in the City of Angels.

They had all found themselves single once again. Calum and Nia had parted a while ago, even though they still remained good friends. They had been both taking their relationship pretty casually anyway, so they didn’t actually make it such a big deal when they split. No hard feelings. Calum had started taking long term suppressants short time after that, much to Ashton’s dislike. The drummer disapproved strongly of suppressants of any kind, being a healthy life style freak, but Calum stood his ground in this one and refused to change his mind.

They were a milder type of supps anyway. They were preventing him from having full heats, unless he purposely stopped using them for a while. They did nothing to mask his scent, or stop other bodily functions such as producing slick. They lowered his libido though and made him feel more like his old beta self. Even though he didn’t mind those effects, he didn’t really care about them either. He merely looked for something that would enable him to plan his heats ahead so that he didn’t have to miss shows and the others didn’t have to plan the shows around his heats. While they told him over and over that they didn’t actually mind doing that, it really made him feel like a bother, so he decided to go for the supps anyway.

Ashton was from the very beginning strongly against this, but the omega had already set his mind, saying that it wasn’t a band’s decision to make, that it was his own personal matter and anyone’s else business. Ashton couldn’t make him change his mind, yet he was not talking to him for a good month because of it.

Everyone was relieved when the drummer finally decided to come to terms with that the omega will take his suppressants regardless if he gave him his blessing or not. Even after that he still found himself obliged to remind him regularly what more or less terrible side effects the suppressant could have and that he should stop taking them immediately if he happened to feel any of them.

Michael wasn’t a big fan of the suppressants either, but didn’t find them as dangerous as Ashton and also didn’t really feel like it was his place to interfere. Luke hadn’t given much thought to the whole drama, but as far as he could tell, Calum was competent adult who could probably decide these things by himself.

As far as Ashton’s love life was concerned, the alpha hadn’t been in any serious relationship ever since him and Bryana split up. He had a few flings, but nothing that would even make it to the tabloids. Instead he became kind of self-proclaimed guru of the band, he had taken an interest in spiritual things, doing yoga, meditation and other stuff, which Luke found himself interested in from time to time, but by far not as much as the drummer.

As for the guitarists of the group, they had both broken up with their girlfriends recently. Michael and Katie didn’t really remain on good terms after their split, even though there was not much of a drama about it. It couldn’t be said about Luke and Arzaylea, it was a mess, the tabloids had Christmas and it took Luke a good deal of time to pull himself together after that. He was currently living with Ashton in LA, partly to cut the costs, but mostly because this way they could support each other.

Anyway after a long time of relationship issues it was just the 4 of them again. Miserably single, but as close as ever. After they adjusted a little bit to the life in LA, they decided to use the amount of time they now had on their hands to  concentrate on music. They’ve been doing their best to improve as much as possible, also they were  experimenting a lot lately, collecting  ideas for their new album.

It was a short time before their trip to Asia, when they all gathered at Michaels house to  discuss some important details about the upcoming concerts. Luke had noticed that Calum was unusually quiet throughout the whole evening. He actually looked a little bit sick, his face lacking the usual natural tan, making him look rather pale, his longer hair hanging lankly around his face.

“Are you ok?” he asked him after a while.

The bassist looked up from the tablet looking a bit annoyed, without doubt being unhappy about the fact that someone noticed his discomfort. Typical Calum.

“I am good.” He mumbled trying not to draw the attention of the alphas. But the damage was done, because both Michael and Ashton also glanced upon from the computer, fixing their eyes on the omega.

“ You sure? Luke is right, you don’t look that well.” Ashton commented giving the bassist a stern look.

Calum rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t feel well, just say it.” Michael  for once took Ashtons side. “You could go home and sleep it off, it’s not really important  that all of us were here today, we can brief you in later. The main thing is that you were fit when for the concerts.”

Calum sighed. “I ll be fine, ok? It’s just a small flue. No big deal.”

“Well, thanks for coming here to infect us all.” Luke meant it as a joke , but it came out as a  grumpy complaint and Michael,the overprotective alpha, gave him a disapproving look and slapped his arm, not very gently.

“Ouch.” Luke pouted a little upon being hit by his crush. Yeah, you read right, his infatuation with the alpha hadn’t gone anywhere over the last year and half, and by now, Luke more or less didn’t expect it to.  It wasn’t like he was into guys ( or alphas) in general. He had tried to imagine himself with other guys, but it only felt disgusting to him, the idea of any other alpha as much as giving him a more than friendly hug was making him shudder with repulsion. So he came to conclusion that it was just some weird Michael thing.

The good thing was, that the alpha in question had absolutely no idea, what kind of personal crisis he was causing, and it had clearly never occurred to him that Luke could harbor any more than friendly feelings for him. Even Luke who was quite biased had to admit that the younger alpha was pretty dumb when it came to feelings. Luke would have to straightforward kiss him or something like that for it to dawn on him that he wanted him in not friendly way. But why the hell would Luke do something so stupid and disastrous like that, he was completely fine with Michael being totally oblivious.

It was the same today, Michael  didn’t seem to pay enough  attention to Luke to even notice his pout, not to mention question why the beta was pouting. Instead he seemed to have all his attention aimed at the omega, who he was currently piercing with his look.

“When was the last time you had your heat? I mean a proper heat after stopping the supps.” He asked carefully.

Ashton answered before the omega could open his mouth. “He had one first week in July.”

Michael looked up to Ashton in surprise. “ We went camping the first week in July.”

“ what? You went camping without me?” Luke blurted out before he could stop himself. Of course it didn’t matter right now, and obviously Ashton wasn’t invited either, so it wasn’t like they left out just him.

“ you went camping? You said, you were home, riding out your heat.” Ashton frowned, looking at the omega searchingly.

“well… I…” the omega was clearly looking for a way out. He shot Luke a pleading look, but Luke didn’t know how to help him with this one. He didn’t even know what was this all about, even though he started to suspect something.

“No, he went camping that week and he definitely wasn’t in heat.” Michael raised his voice slightly, which he didn’t do that much often, but it effectively made Calum alert,  and well Luke too, even though he was a beta. But there was this thing,  Michaels alpha ( or borderline alpha) voice always had this effect on him, he had given up on  trying to make a sense of that, he guessed this was just another weird thing about him and his stupid crush.

“So… when did you have your last heat then?” Ashton asked with a growing suspicion.

Calum shrank a little bit under the two pairs of probing eyes, but quickly recovered, refusing to show weakness in front of his bandmates, especially the alphas.

“ well, does it really matter?” Luke tried to lighten the mood.

Michael rolled his eyes at him.

“Calum? “

“well…that time in February.”

Ashton took in a deep breath.“ so, you haven’t  had a heat since then?”

“ I thought you had one in April.” Michael frowned.

“Nope, he definitely didn’t.” Ashton folded his massive arms over his chest. Luke really didn’t envy Calum now. When he managed to piss of one of their alphas´, there was always a good chance, that the other would automatically took his side. They were still somehow competitive about him. But when he pissed of both of them…

“What the fuck are you playing Cal. I thought we had a deal. When I finally agreed to the suppressants, you promised you would have a heat at least once every 3 months. ”

Calum snorted. “Well, I was quite busy lately, and that’s not like I needed you to agree on anything. It’s my business, whether I take the supps or not.”

Ashton slammed his hands on the table and got up, obviously getting mad.

“ Common, it won’t solve anything.” Michael glanced up to him, than he turned back to Calum and spoke in softer voice. “You shouldn’t really push himself like that, it’s taking toll on your health.”

Luke was still a bit confused.  Was this the reason why Calum was being sick? “What? What’s going on? Is Calum going into heat because he hadn’t had a heat in a long time?”

Michael gave him an annoyed look. Luke returned it to him immediately; _everyone couldn’t be an expert on omegas biology, right? It wouldn’t harm them, if they explained him something from time to time._

“What about you brought us more beer, and Gatorade for Cal.”  Michael asked him, but it didn’t seem like request more like an order.

Luke’s first reaction was to tell him go fuck himself and bring it himself, because he really hated when Michael did that. He wasn’t really the type of alpha to order them around, but when it came to Calum… he sometimes made Luke want to kick him to the jewels, because it was exactly what he was thinking with.

“Could anyone pleeease explain to me what the heat thing  has to do with Calums flue?” he asked louder, because he wasn’t one to be brushed off easily.

“ He doesn’t have a flue, he is getting sick from putting of his heat for a long time.” Ashton finally clarified. And ok, now Luke could finally understand, why they were making such a fuss about it. He didn’t know, that suppressants could do that!

“ It’s not your business. Stop butting in.” Calum tried again.

“ It is the band’s business, when it is affecting the band. How does you getting sick help us making a better show? “

Calum had obviously nothing to say to that, so he just sat there, looking at the table, and pouted.

Luke was quickly doing the math in his head, if Calum stopped his suppressant now, he would still have enough time to have a heat before they flew to Philippines.

“ hey, he could still have a heat right?” he tried to suggest.

“Could you get the beer?”

Luke glowered at the alpha. He got it, it was alpha/omega business, but did they have to act like there was nothing he could possibly bring in to the conversation? There was no point arguing though, he had tried before, multiple times actually, to no avail, so this time he just gave up  and stood up to get the fucking beer.

Its not like he minded Calum being omega, but it was just he kinda hated when the alphas went all protective and narrow minded about him, usually in relation to his heats or something like that . It was like suddenly Luke didn’t exist, but the simple fact that he was a beta didn’t mean that he couldn’t understand anything heat related.  He wasn’t that fucking stupid. On the opposite he found that he was usually the most level headed about it, because he was kinda standing in the middle. But the alphas had a different opinion, or they weren’t thinking at all, because they still turned to cavemen when it came to Calum and his omega business, his heats especially.

He  took his time in the kitchen , because he knew, the beers weren’t really that needed, at least not as much as his presence was unneeded. The alphas wanted to have a private conversation with Calum, little talk when they would try to explain to him, how he had to start taking better care of himself, not putting his health in danger for the sake of the band. He had heard it before, and while he might agree to some extent, he still felt like it was Calums responsibility. Babying him won’t help anything.

When he finally returned, Ashton presented him the shocking solution.

“Calum would take a break from his suppressants now, and he would get his heat before them leaving to Asia.” Wow, he wouldn’t think of that, he thought sarcastically  and mentally face palmed himself.

“Anyone wants the beer?” He asked instead knowing better than adding fuel to the fire. Calum reached for one and he gladly handed it  to him, earning more disapproving looks form the alphas. He settled on ignoring them, if they had a problem with him, they should at least say it. Calum smiled at him thankfully. Yup, team Cake against The Big Dumb Alphas.

Calum stopped taking his suppressants and  went into heat a week after that, it was a mild one though, because the leftover suppressants were still circulating in his blood. The proper way would be, at first lowering the dosage and then stopping, but they had no time for that, if they wanted to make it before Asia. Still and all they had some duties, they couldn’t get out of, and Calum had to take part in them even though he was in a heat. For example they were supposed to make a video message for Summer Sonic. There was no time left so they had to make it during Calums heat. They had everything set up, the camera, the couch the thing they would say, they  were only waiting for the bassist to show up.  They let him take his time,  and waited patiently at his house until he will be ready to take a break from his heat and come down for a moment to make the video.  Its been a long wait, and Michael  disappeared after some time to  get  some better cable  or whatever. When he didn’t come back right away  they suspected him that he holed up in Calums guest room, went to play a game or something, because he didn’t want to waste time waiting for Calum.

After another hour of waiting, Luke decided to put out for the others  and went upstairs to calums bedroom to ask if everything was ok. Calums heat might have gotten worse and in that case, it would be best if they left and came back tomorrow. They could still make it, if they shot it tomorrow, even though it would be really tight.

He wasn’t really prepared to see Michael leaving Calums bedroom. The alpha didn’t spot him at first as he was closing the door carefully and at the same time trying to adjust the hem of his sweatshirt.

Luke froze.  What the fuck was he doing in Calums room? He would have never dared to bother Calum in his heat, even if  it was a mild one. Actually he was usually avoiding Calum in heat, he had done that ever since his first one, which turned out quite horribly.  Even when Calum had to once spend a part of his heat on the tour bus, Michael still kinda managed to always find himself on the other end of it,so that he wasn’t anywhere near him.

 Well, maybe it wasn’t a big deal, maybe he was just going to ask Calum if he was already ready? It’s been a while after all, maybe he was also getting impatient.  But why was Luke having such a bad feelings about it? Maybe it was the little smile which was hovering on Michaels lips, maybe the little blush on his cheeks, but there was definitely something fishy.  Whatever it was, it caused a ball of ice growing in Lukes guts. It only grew larger  when Michael stopped abruptly upon seeing him standing in the hallway. Their eyes met for a second, and Michaels eyes grew big and his face froze in shock , before he could catch himself and put on a fake smile.

“ ehmm, Calum will be down in 5 minutes.” He said. If he was nervous, the nerves stayed out of his voice, but his face still looked a bit tense.

“ yeah?”

“ yeah.” Michael retorted trying maybe too hard to sound nonchalant.

“ should I go check on him?”

“ nope, not necessary. “ Michael said hastily and  grabbed him by his arm not very gently and started dragging him downstairs. And it was this fucking weird reaction that finally made  Luke 99 percent  sure that the alpha wasn’t in Calums room just to check up on him. The question was, what the hell was he doing there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wont post another separate story. I will be continuing this one.   
> I hope you liked this chapter!   
> Let me know what you think of it! and what you think Michael was doing in Calums room :D


	27. Moscow 2017

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Im sorry in advance!

When Calum finally decided to join them on the couch, the first thing Luke noticed, was a chemical stench invading his nostrils quite aggressively. He had to think for a moment before he could identify the smell, because he actually hadn’t smelled it for a while. But then he remembered that it was the smell of Calums special shampoo designed to block his omega scent, he hadn’t used it in a while because his smell wasn’t so poignant since he started taking the suppressants regularly.

Maybe he felt the need to use it now, when he was in a mild heat, but still a heat, and was expected to squeeze with them on a small couch, maybe it was only his consideration of the alphas feelings, that made him do it. Maybe it was what he and Michael had been talking about. It wasn’t until Michael plopped down next to him, that he noticed that the alpha was smelling the same, even if not so strongly. His heart sank down into his stomach. What was going on? Were they using the same shampoo? And why was Michael even showering before the shoot? He had said, he would just get the fucking cable!

Maybe he was just considering too? All other options, that were frantically running through his head were only worse. They would suggest something that Luke really didn’t want to think about.

When he later watched the video message, he didn’t really understand how no one ever asked him about how terrible he looked in it.  He looked downright pissed of half of the time, and at least mildly uncomfortable in the other half. He was crammed in between Calum and Michael, Calums chemical stench making him want to gag, and Michaels not so subtle furtive glances at Calum was continuously disrupting his concentration.

The only one who looked professional in the vid was Ashton, who seemed blissfully oblivious to the state the other members were in. Calum kept fidgeting in his seat, not really making much effort to contribute to the video. Luke had really tried to keep his act together but his mind kept wondering away, the importunate questions attacking his brain mercilessly. What was Michael doing in Calums room? Why did they both showered in scent blocker shampoo? Did they have a fling? Did they have sex upstairs while him and Ashton were waiting for them like idiots? Why hadn’t Ashton noticed they were smelling the same? Too many questions… and the only obvious answer to all of them was in fact the one Luke didn’t like at all.

And the question that took cake of all of those was the Should we talk about it? Like should he ask Michael or Calum what they were doing in his room while Calum was in heat? Or should he say something to Ash?

In the end he decided to ask Michael when he was changing the strings. This way he won’t be able to run away and avoid the question.

“So what were you doing in Cals room?”

Michaels hands stopped and he looked up from the instrument.  He seemed calm enough, but Luke actually caught him chewing at his lower lips unwittingly.

“you mean when we shot the video?” he said , his voice low and measured.” Just went to check on him, see if he doesn’t need anything? Why are you asking?”

“ well, no reason. Just curious. And did he?”

“ what?”

“ Did he need something?”

“No, just…. Well,actually he did. He asked me if he should take a shower in the blocker shampoo, because…. You know the smell.”

Luke was pretty sure he could see the alpha blush a little.

“So, I told him he should. Just to be extra sure.”

“ yeah… I noticed.” Luke crouched up his nose.

Michael let out a short laugh.” Yeah, I know it smells terrible. Still better than the omega heat scent. “

Luke shrugged. “ I can’t smell those.”

Michael looked at him a bit apologetically. “ I know, sorry about that. But it helped us a lot.” He smiled at Luke warmly, and Luke hadn’t missed there was something in his smile that he hadn’t seen there in a while. Some almost childish joy and softness that was shining through and  left Luke a bit baffled. It was the way Michael looked every time something went especially great in his life, like when they won the best song award at the AMAs for She Looks So perfect. Or when they went to Japan for the first time. Something like that, but there was something else too. Luke couldn’t look away for a while, before he noticed Michael was looking at him weirdly and he quickly averted his eyes.

At that moment Ashton strolled in and started talking about how they could make a change in the set list, so that he had more time to relax before his most challenging drum solos.

Luke didn’t really know what to think about it, Michaels version seemed believable enough, but at the same time something wasn’t fitting. 

Still the next two weeks were quite busy, and he didn’t have much time to keep analyzing it in his head. It wasn’t until they were heading to Russia to have their first concert ever in Moscow, that he noticed some other suspicious things. First when they were boarding the plane, Luke spotted Michael  carrying not only his own but Calums bag too, which wasn’t suspicious because Michael wouldn’t offer to do  that before, he actually did on various occasions, but because Calum usually gave him that “fuck off, I cant take care of myself” look and carried it himself anyway. He hardly ever let anyone help him with anything just because he was an omega.

But maybe he just had a bad day, and was feeling under the weather. No big deal.

But then there was the plane situation, Michael was usually the  happiest sitting alone, either downright sleeping or dozing off with his headphones on. This time though he sat down next to Calum and they were happily chatting throughout the whole first hour of the flight. Luke turned to Ashton to see if the alpha noticed anything weird about that, but the drummer was sleeping soundly next to him, letting out a soft snore now and then. Luke tried to fall asleep too, really hard, but in the end he stayed awake for most of the flight and ended up watching Calums head sinking gradually at Michaels shoulder as the omega finally lost the battle with tiredness and fell asleep.  

Again, they were always this close in the band, so it wasn’t too strange that the two of his friends were sleeping basically cuddled to each other, he and Michael had slept like this too!

Luke almost managed to persuade himself that he was just being paranoid by the time they were landing, but then he spotted Michaels fingers gently probing though Calums messy hair to wake him up and his suspicions went back full force.

What the everlasting hell was going on here? Why was Calum suddenly so ok with Michael’s pampering?

The concert itself improved Lukes mood significantly, he hadn’t expected to like it that much, but the crowd was fucking huge and seemed to have so much fun, that the people kinda managed to transfer their enthusiasm to the musicians. And it was a fucking great show.

Michael looked really hot too, the alpha seemed to radiate great amount of self confidence as he was standing there on the stage in his white shirt and white sneakers.  Even more so when he and Calum strutted to each other and synchronized their strumming,  which went  kinda unnoticed by the beta, because he was currently busy singing his part, but this time it was the drummer who took noticed of the way Calums was swinging his hips more than usual when he was returning back to his spot.

It was the further into the night when they were sitting in Michaels room celebrating the success that Luke spotted Michael lazily resting his hand against Calums thigh, his fingers tapping a slow melody into it. Calums let a small smile escape on his face before he shook Michaels hand off, making a funny face at the guitarist. Luke probably wouldn’t notice if he wasn’t sitting across from them.

Michael grinned at the bassist, but quickly stopped when he caught Luke staring at him. Again there was a barely noticeable blush coloring his cheeks.

Ashton came in with beers clinging in his hand.

“ remember, what you said, Calum?” he slurred a little, and plonked down on the couch next to the omega, obviously in a good mood as he sneaked his right arm around the omegas shoulders.

“ what did I say?” the omega sat up a little, subtly moving a bit further from the blonde guitarist.

“ that we won’t have any fans in Russia.”

“ aaah…” Calum put on a bashful face.

“ Just admit you were fucking wrong.”

“ well on my defense…”

Ashton didn’t let him finish and started tickling his sides. “ Just admit it!”

“ Ok, ok, I admit, happy.” The omega kept laughing at the same time trying to escape from the drummer,  pushing back to Michaels side.

The blonde alpha was watching the exchange between the rhythmic duo with a dubious look on his face. When the bassist involuntarily squeezed almost into his lap, while trying to escape Ashton, Michael  sneaked his arm around the omegas waist, simultaneously digging into fist into the drummers side. Ashton clearly hadn’t grasped how it all looked, but from where Luke was sitting on the, he could tell it looked hell lot like Michael was defending his boyfriend or whatever.

The poking grew over into some kind drunken half fight. And the beta sneaked out of the room before one of his band mates could notice.

He almost ran into John in the hallway. The sound operator  greeting him happily with a fatherly smile on his face.

“ Having fun, rock stars?” he teased.

“ ahh, don’t  call us that. “ Luke chuckled.

“ Ok, ok. Humble as always. Hope you behave yourself tonight, you not allowed to sleep in tomorrow. “

Luke nodded. “ I know, I make sure everyone is in bed in an hour.”

Ben let out an amused laugh.

“ What?”

 “ you are turning into second Ashton.”

“ wtf? NO!”

“ it wasn’t meant as offence…”

“ I know, I know.” Luke hurried to explain. He didn’t actually mind to be compared to the alpha.

As they exchanged good nights, Luke finally dared to ask  the question that had been itching on his tongue.

“ Didn’t you notice anything weird about Michael and Calum lately?”

The older beta seemed to freeze for a moment and visibly hesitated for a bit, he didn’t  really seem terribly surprised by the questions. More like he had been expecting it.

“ No , I haven’t. Did you mean anything specific?”

“ No , just in general.” Luke could tell the crew member wasn’t telling him everything, but what wasn’t he telling him?

“ No, I didn’t. Just the usual, Calum looked a bit tired lately, but it must have been  the  heat. “

“ yeah, of course. Thanks!”

Luke went to the balcony on the end of the hallway, for once almost regretting he didn’t smoke, because it would give him a perfect excuse for him to stay here for some time. Now he was just standing here, staring into lights of the night city, biting his lower lip and thinking. He was maybe just seeing things, but  it was true that they weren’t so handsy with each other anymore because, they are grown up now…. Kinda, so all the touching and furtive glances made him wonder, was there something happening with the Malum?

He didn’t even realize he’s been there for some time, and The one who finally came after him was Calum, the omega appearing behind him out of sudden, unintentionally giving him  a good scare.

“ you ok? You disappeared without a word, we thought you went to sleep, but you weren’t in your room. “ the omega asked softly and Luke had to admit that  even  in the dim light of the hallway and with his hair  all messed up, his skin glowing from how sweaty he got on stage and hints of bags under his eyes, the omega still looked really pretty. Pretty as in… naturally enticing without even trying to.

And for some reason Luke felt really envious of that. Like… don’t take him wrong, he loved his friend, but it was so unfair that he didn’t even have to try and had every alpha wrapped around his finger.

“ I am fine, just needed some fresh air. “ Luke replied, glad that he was standing in the dark, so Calum hopefully couldn’t see his expression. He could tell it wasn’t the fondest one right now.

The omega laughed. “I told Ashton , it’s the case. You really are a lightweight, aren’t you?”

Luke snorted but didn’t argue. It was better that Calum thought he was drunk. Luke wasn’t proud of what was really going on in his head.

 Everyone disappeared to their rooms short after that.  Yet there was one person who hadn’t stayed there for a long. It was the older guitarist, who sneaked out of his room when he was sure everyone else was sleeping. He carefully tiptoed to Calums room, using the card which the omega gave him earlier.

When inside he got out of his shoes and climbed into Calum bed, sneaking his arms around the younger ones waist. The omega woke up with a jerk.

“ sorry, did I wake you up.”

The omega yawned. “ why are you surprised? What took you so long?”

 The older pressed his face into the bassist shoulder.

“ had to make sure everyone was sleeping. Luke was showering for like an hour.”

Calum chuckled. “really? Was he doing anything interesting in there? “ his smirk evident even thought it was pitch dark in the room.

“aah. Stop it, you just killed my mood.”

“ Peachy. I will be able to get some sleep then.” The omega teased.

“ oh no, don’t count on that.” The alpha purred,  and tightened his grip on Calums waist. Softly pressing his lips against the omegas neck.

Calum shivered a little. “ you know, we should really get some sleep. We have that interview tomorrow, and you will have to wake up really early to get to your own room!”

The alpha growled. “ you know, it would be so much easier if we just told everyone. I am pretty sure John and Dave already know anyway.”

The bassist froze a little bit and with a bit of struggle turned around to face the alpha.

Michael let him make some space in-between them but left his hand resting on the cover covering calum hip.

“ We talked about it. I am not read for everyone to know.”

Michael sighed. “ I know.” he said softly. “ I am not pressuring you, just stating a fact.”

“ I know, sorry for being so grumpy.”

“ sorry for complaining.”

“ we will tell them, ok? Just, want it to be just us for now.”

“ Ok. Whatever you need.” The alpha snuggled closer into the omegas space. “ now, what did you say about the sleeping?”

A soft snore sounded from the other room.

“ Fuck! Why are there always paper thin walls in the fucking hotels.” Calum groaned.

“Looks like sleep it is. “ the alpha let out a sigh and snuggled closer to the omegas side.

Michael almost didn’t make it to his room in the morning, because even though sleeping was the only thing they were doing that night. Somehow they still managed to sleep in. It was Ashton  banging on the door that finally made them get out of bed. With some luck Michael still made it to his room without being seen and the only one who he met on the hallway was a cleaning lady, who didn’t look like she even knew or cared who he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, it looks like Malum is happening after all! But I promise ( pinky swear) there will be Muke and Cashton in the end! Who knows, maybe it will finally make Ashton realize he should be fucking doing soemthing about his crush on Calum. Maybe it will make Michael realize that Calum isnt actually the right one for him!   
> Anayway, dont kill me!   
> and really, really, thank you for all your support! Its great to know that soemone actually likes your writing, your comments mean a lot to me!   
> They keep me going!   
> Love you   
> LM


	28. Lima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok! Its been a while and but I am back!   
> What I really wanted to do in this chapter is to show teh inner struggle in Luke, like his inner fear of becoming omega is actually making him unabel to present but at the same his subconsciousness is trying to give him some clues.   
> And I really didnt want it to come out cheesy and unoriginal , so after a lot of struggle I came up with this.... well, I think its kind of crazy and I am still no totally ok with this chapter.... but its been a while and I wanted to post something , so just be easy on me , okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dont kill me!

In the end Luke decided against asking either Calum or Michael about their relationship. First he didn’t want to look like an idiot and create an awfully awkward situation, if it turned out there was nothing going on. Second he was kinda afraid of what he could find out! You know what they say, ignorance is a bliss!

 So instead he kept telling himself that maybe he was just imagining things, but now and then he couldn’t help but notice that the two high school friends had been in each other’s space way more than usual. He really wondered how come that  Ashton didn’t notice anything out of ordinary, because he usually made a good job of keeping a track of what was going on in the band. The fact that the drummer seemed totally oblivious only made Luke more confident, that he was just reading too much into it.

At the beginning of September, they traveled to South America, starting their mini tour there. In Lima they were playing in a Jockey Club, which was quite bizarre, but they weren’t really picky when it came to where they were supposed to give a show, they went wherever their fans were. Luke was in a good mood, maybe it was because he was excited about the new tour, maybe was also a little happy about the Malum not being so touchy feely for the last few days.

They were looking over the venue during the sound check when his mind slipped into the dark waters again, when he saw Michael reaching around Calum to show him something on the fretboard. Luke couldn’t tell from the distance what they were playing, but he unfortunately couldn’t not notice how Michael casually laid his head on Calums shoulder and not in the _my dude best friend_ way.

Luke frowned, it wasn’t impossible they would have something going on, theres been this sexual tension between those two ever since Cal presented, the real question was  would they really start a thing without telling anybody? But then again Ashton was so against any relationships in the band now, that they might have felt  like they had no choice. But then again…. It wasn’t Michaels style to hide something like that, maybe Calums, but Michael wouldn’t roll with that…

A loud laugh from behind him jerked him from his thoughts, Ashton and Ben had been laughing madly about something. Luke went over to them to see what was so funny, and after a while Michael joined them there to.   

“Fuck, its cold. I thought, that South America was supposed to be warm.” The alpha complained, rubbing his arms to warm himself up.

“South America is quite a big continent, you know, Michael.” Ashton smirked and Michael rolled his eyes at his mockery, obviously not in a mood to be made fun of.

“It’s the wind, its fucking freezing.”

“Are you kidding me? We just came back from Russia. And you think here is freezing?”

Michael let out a huff.  “I expected it would be cold in Russia, I was prepared. I am not now.”

“ Oh God, and one would say its not that hard to bring a jacket. just in case. “

Luke watched Michael pout in offence for the lack of sympathy, and kept rubbing at his arms. Luke was maybe feeling too much sympathy with the devil.

“I have one extra jacket.” He offered in what he hoped to be a neutral voice.

Michael turned around to him with a flicker of hope on his face.  “Really?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t decide which one to take, so I brought both.“

“Oh my god, you are a life saver, Lukey.” Michael smiled widely at him and Luke couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat at that. He was a hopeless case obviously.

As much as he tried to not to make it a big deal, he couldn’t shake of the feeling of strange sense of satisfaction about seeing Michael wearing his jacket. He mentally reprimanded himself, he really shouldn’t be supporting himself in this nonsense.

Why did Michael have to kiss him back there in Sydney, its been a while but Luke still remembered it with surprising clarity, as if he wasn’t drunk as shit that night. And it totally fucked up with his head, whenever he almost managed to persuade himself that it was just a weird spur of moment, he remembered  the taste of Michaels lips against his, the way his tongue kept exploring his mouth and found himself fighting a boner as if he was horny teenager! Sometimes he was so caught up with work that he had no thoughts of that, he was quite thankful for these moments, but other times, he just spotted Michael biting his lower lip in concentration while tuning up in studio and the memories came back full force. And sometimes at the worst moments, his treacherous mind came up with some more images adding up to the  scenario in the granny’s house, making its own version what would happen if things went differently…. If Michael didn’t pull away from him, if he went on grinding on him like that! Which was.. well not very helpful to say the least! He still didn’t consider himself in love with the man, more like infatuated or  unhealthily attracted in a sexual way or something! But…

“ You ok?“ Calum suddenly appeared form behind him.

Luke jumped at that, fuck he should really stop zoning out, or it will make people suspicious. Calum gave him a weird look. It obviously already did made people suspicious!

“ Yeah?” Luke gave a small cough.

“ You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”

“ Did I? “ Luke refused to lose a face. “I am just a bit tired. Didn’t sleep well!”

Calum furrowed his eyebrows.” You said you slept like a baby this morning.”

“ Really?”

“Ok, I ll pretend you are not being totally weird, weirdo. If you wanna talk, you know where to find me.” Calum gave him one last look and made his way back to the set, where Ashton was discussing something with the drum tech.

Luke face palmed himself. He should really get himself together.

Suddenly a hand appeared on his shoulder.

“ you ok, Lukey?” This time it was guitarist who showed concern about his well being which was kinda even worse. Luke swiftly turned around and tried to put on a poker face.

“ Fine. I am fine.” He gave a fake smile, even though he knew he sucked at those. The interviews with himself he had watched were enough proof of that.

Michael just shrugged, not really giving out what he thought about his weird behavior.

Luke sighed, yeah he really should pull himself together.

He managed to do that after all, the concert went well, and he fell down to his bed totally exhausted that night, didn’t give a damn that there were still leftover clothes scattered on it, as far as he could still manage to find some place to fit his body in between them. He snuggled into the sheets and dropped off immediately.

He didn’t sleep peacefully though, he found himself in one of those scary weird dreams. This time the dream was more on the scary side of weirdness though.

There was a lake again of course, always the fucking lake.  Except this time there was no super soldier camp, just a small town near the lake instead. And he and Michael were some sort of special agents sent to the lake to investigate some suspicious deaths occurring in the resort.

Moreover another super agent duo (made of Ashton and Calum) had been sent there before, but both of them disappeared without a trace. The connection with them had been cut off, but the last message form Ashton that got through was that the kidnappings had something to do with the lake and that if something happened, that they should find his diary. And something obviously did, and Michael and Luke were sent over as a back up and they were supposed to investigate what happened to the Cashton team  and if they were even still alive…

Luke never considered himself an overly creative person, but maybe he just had it buried somewhere deep inside him, because if his mind was able to come up with something like this, he was obviously a genius… or a crazy man.

But back to the dream, it just got weirder and weirder from there. Michael was getting more and more nervous over time, as they were investigating all over the town, because obviously the locals knew more than they were telling them. They operated undercover as a young just married alpha/omega couple. Luke had to use  a fake omega scent spray to pull the omega appearance, which obviously wasn’t a great move, because the locals kinda grew more suspicious of him as soon as they realized his sub gender ( well fake one, but they didn’t know). So… it resulted in Michael having to do must of the investigation, because the locals refused to even talk to Luke. It didn’t help that the dream Michael , very much as the real one, had a big crush on Calum, and he only got more worried and anxious every day they couldn’t find him. Well, they both did, but Michael was really losing his nerves here.

 Anyway after a while they managed to find a cue where Ashton might have hidden his diary. Ashton and Calum went undercover as musicians in a local jazz band, Calum as a bassist and Ashton as drummer. Someone told them, that ashton might have hidden his notes in the drums. But if it was the truth another problem arose how do they get to these drums? They were locked in the local venue, where the band had been practicing.

But to their luck the band was of course looking for a new drummer, after Ashtons sudden disappearance. Well, neither of them was actually any good with the drums, but Michael at least knew some basics… and he only really needed to attend the audition to get to the drums. Luke was pretty worried about whether the alpha secretly manages to find the location of the diary, but it didn’t turn out to be such  big problem. There was another thing though, he actually somehow magically managed to get a into the band and was supposed to play with regularly form now on? It was so inconvenient, because it would cost them time they could put into looking for Cashton.  Also, how terrible did the other drummers have to be for Michael to win?

The good news was that the diary actually helped them a lot, it  confirmed their suspicion about the lake, The more Ashton and Calum had also found out that the thing living in the lake targeted  young mateless omegas, as well as people that came to their defense.  A connection that they failed to make, because people of different statuses were kidnapped. The kinda missed the little detail, that there had always been an omega involved. Well, that would explain why people were kinda avoiding Luke here.  They thought he would bring them bad luck. It also meant they were right about another thing, the locals knew more than they were saying, they were keeping something from them.

Michaels as the senior agent suggested they moved closer to the lake,namely to a little wooden cottage, from were a couple disappeared before.  Luke really didn’t like the thought of it, but he was the secret agent here right, he was supposed to protect the people of the village. He was not allowed to be afraid. But he was fucking scared shitless anyway!

“ Michael?”

“ yeah?”

“ do you think, what Ashotn found out is right?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders while cleaning his gun. “ There is only one way to find out, you will guard the lake,”

“What?”

“You will guard the lake, this evening. Its almost new moon. Most of the attacks happened around new moon. And I have to go playing with the stupid band.”

“ you mean… alone??” luke stuttered, hoping he heard wrong.

“ yeas. You are a trained agent, have a problem with that?”

“ N-no.”

“ Good. Fuck I knew that going into action with such a rookie wouldn’t end up well. Try not to  fuck it up, okay?”

“ hey!  Get of my back! I was just asking because.. because… I am your boyfriend undercover, wouldn’t it be suspicious if I didn’t go to watch your concert and support you or whatever?”

“ Yes, it probably will, that’s why I am prepared to tell everybody that you are sick. “

“ but, but…”

“ what again…” Michael finished with his gun and gave him a non impressed look.

 Luke puffed up. “ what if I… ehmmm, find the---- the  thing???”

“ Michael rolled his eyes. “ He is only after omegas. Well and after those who threaten him. Don’t show off gun, and you ll be fine…just follow it, to find where it lives.” Michael hit him on his shoulder, probably to beat some courage into him.

Lukes eyes widened. Great, he cant even bring a gun now! Also Something  didn’t seem quite  right here. He was a beta, right? The monster or whatever was out there wont be interested in  him, right? But what if they were wrong?  Oh, god… lets that not be true!

And that’s how the dream  Luke found himself standing thigh deep in the smelly water of the lake. With only a little moon left, it was pitch dark out there and he was only able to see a few meters ahead thanks to  a small flickering flashlight he was clutching in his hand, desperately trying to penetrate the surrounding darkness.

Something rustled in the nearby reeds.

“ Mikey? Are you back?”  Luke called out in a small voice.

“Lukey…” it didn’t sound like Michaels voice…. It could still be Michaels voice, maybe, if he was all raspy from the singing…. But he hadn’t been signing, he was a fucking drummer ….but… _Please lets that be his voice._ Luke prayed in his head.

“Lukey….” It definitely wasn’t his voice.

Luke quickly pulled out his gun. To the hell with the _you shoudnt show it off_. He wont get raped by some swamp monster, with a gun hidden in a case.

Luke put the flashlight into his mouth, pulling out  the gun. Suddenly the rustling sounded noticeably closer, Luke gaped and as his jaw moved, the flashlight  slipped out of his mouth. The light disappeared below the surface with one last blick and Luke found himself surrounded by complete darkness.

Fuck. He clutched desperately at the gun.

FUCK AGAIN!!! He barely saw the shore now. How was he supposed to spot something else in there.

“ Lukey…. You wanna hurt mee?”  sounded form the darkness. To Luke it seemed  it was getting closer.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Luke felt his heart pounding in his chest, the paralyzing  fear creeping up on him.

He won’t help Calum , if he dies here right?

Luke started wading through the water back to the shore  where he suspected the outline of their cottage. The rustling sounded again, this time from the other side, was it circling him, was it playing games on him?

One of his trainers got stuck in the mud …. He thought about reaching to get it, when an ominous feeling washed over him, and a presence of something very evil materialized right behind him. He could almost feel it breathing on his neck.

The shoe be damned, he started wading quicker, literary running for his life.  finally  he reached  the shore, climbed up to it, not caring about finding the concrete steps and ran to  the cottage.

He slammed the door behind him and locked it. His hands were shaking when he flipped the switch and the room lit up finally. He was standing there covered in mud breathing heavily, his heart beat only graually slowing down.

Luke pricked up his ears and was listening to the darkness outside. But there was nothing there, just a sound of wind in the reeds and some plopping now and then . The silence was stretching and minutes passed and suddenly the feeling of terror was washed away by a feel of shame, he was supposed to be brave and look for Calum out there, no running away like  a scared kid. He was a secret agent after all, he had it in his work prescription to withstand danger, to risk his life…

Maybe there was nothing out there after all… just a wind whistling and sounds of night animals, and he run away like a scaredy cat! not to mention he lost the flashlight…. And a shoe! But  then he remembered the  incredibly malicious  presence he felt behind him and the breath caught in his throat again. No, there must have been something!

Suddenly shuffling sounded from the doorway… someone tried the handle. The sense of dread came back, full force.

“ Luke? Are you in? What are you doing here? let me in…”  Luke let out a shaky breath. Fuck, it was Michaels voice.

He unlocked the door and let the alpha in.

“ what are doing inside, shouldn’t you be at the lake?” Michael lashed out at him in an annoyed voice.

“ I…. well… there was something..”

“ Really?” Michaels eyes lit up immediately! Than his  face fell. “Did you let him get away? Dammit Luke!”

“ well,  I lost the flashlight, I couldn’t really chase it in the dark.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

“ WHAT? HOW DID IT HAPPEN? “

“ Stop yelling at me, I am glad that I saved my life, it almost got me.”

“ Got you??? Why would it be after you?”

“ I kinda had the gun?”

“ The gun? I told you not to bring it. Jeez… Luke. Now it knows about us and wont probably approach us again…”

“ Well, I beg to differ…. It was clearly interested in me!”

“ what do you mean… you are a beta.”

“well, yeah…”

“ yeah, see? Its only interested cause you  threatened it.”

Luke didn’t know what to say. Michael seemed to be deep in thoughts.

“ Why would you say it was interested in you?” Michael asked in the end.

“ Well, it seemed like was it calling out to me…”

“ you mean, it knew your name?” Michaels eyes widened and he started browsing through Ashtons diary.

“ it did.”

“ its not possible. Its not possible.” Michael wagged his head furiously staring at the scribbled notes.

Sudden crash interrupted the silence. The light went out.

Luke shot up and blinked into the sudden darkness. For a minute he was totally confused, before he realized he was lying on a queen sized bed and there was a bed side table with a lamp on it he could switch on.

The hotel room lit up and Luke fell back into the sheets… what the hell? Was it a dream?  What kind of a dream was that?

He got and went to the bathroom the splash some water into his face. The dream was fucking creepy.  It was so wrong… in so many levels. Why would he even had a dream like that. He never had many nightmares , not  even as a child.

  Luke was slowly calming down, but  couldn’t wrap his head about the dream anyway. It didn’t make a sense in the slightest. Why would there be a monster only targeting omegas? Why would he pose as one undercover, wouldn’t it be easier to stay a beta? Who the hell would hide a secret diary in a fucking drum set, like it would be so obvious! And what idiot would climb into the water where a monster lived, like wouldn’t any sensible person just walk around it, on the shore?

Jeez, he almost regretted not having another wet dream about Michael… almost!

 

Luke closed his eyes for a second and the feeling of ominous presence form the dream  came back. Luke cringed… it seemed so realistic.  Seriously, what was wrong with him? Was it even possible to have such vivid dreams? And why the hell were Calum and Michael in love in his dream too? Was it some kind of premonition?  And Ashton was dead in it? NO, not a premonition! And well… everything could do, scary swamp monsters, 5sos as secret agents, but Michael playing drums… just no, no!

The following day sucked, Luke had to thing about that fucking nightmare all the time. He couldn’t shake of the feeling, that there was some deeper message in the dream, he just couldn’t decode! Like it felt so real!

“Cal? Did you ever had a weird dream?” he decide to share with his best friend after all.

“Weird dream? Like what? Like a wet dream?” Calum gave him a funny wink and giggled. “something you want to share?”

“ no, No! Jeez, do you think about something else!” Calum shrugged.

“ More like a nightmare…”

Calum frowned. “Did you have a bad dream…”

“ yeah, it was kinda … creepy.” Luke couldnt help a shiver running down his spine. He was a grown man, dammit.

Calum smiled at him sympathetically. “ its probably just the nerves. First time playing here. You push yourself too much, take it easy, bro.” the omega flashed him a smile.

“ wanna tell me what it was about…”

“ eeehhhh…”

“ was I in it?”

“ ehmm… no. well, yeah but…”

“ wow, was I some cool creepy monster or something…” Calum seemed way more enthusiastic about it than he probably should.

 “Nope, you were totally lame.” Luke wagged his head. He just couldn’t tell him the truth! “ Michael played drums in a jazz band?” he offered instead.

 “ What? Eeeegh! I see, it sounds really scary!” Calum made a face. “your dreams suck by the way!”

Oh, you have no idea! No idea! Luke thought but kept his mouth shut.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! I really want to know this time!


	29. Buenos Aires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, finally, I am Back!!!  
> Didnt have much time to check it up,so I hope there are not many typos!

Luke almost thought it was over, when just a few days later in Buenos Aires he had another dream. He went to bed in a sour mood that night, because the show didn’t  go that great, his throat was pretty sore and as a result of that  his singing sounded kinda scratchy and he seemed out of breath half of the time.

Everyone else was making a good job and Luke couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was the one fucking up the whole thing, making them sound bad, while everyone else was doing their best.

The others didn’t give him any shit for that, but he could feel the disappointment waving off them when coming off the stage. The fact that they still refused to blame him in any way was only making him feel more guilty.

Ben patted him on the shoulder before they parted ways that night, but Luke only managed a small smile to offer him in return, before he disappeared into his own hotel room.  He was in no mood to go out, but the room seemed terribly empty and impersonal and after a while of hanging in there he started feeling really depressed. He quickly suppressed the idea to open the mini bar, and get  some vodka from it.  Because his more conscious portion of brain luckily reminded  him that drinking himself to sleep alone in his hotel room wasn’t actually a good pattern to create. So he dragged himself dejectedly into the bathroom and a had a quick shower  , which made him feel a tiny bit better,  and than crawled back into his bed to sleep it off.

He briefly entertained the idea of calling someone, but couldn’t think of anyone he wanted to talk right now. He almost regretted breaking it off with Arzayela, it would be nice to have someone to call at times like these. He could of course call his mom, but…she would probably just tell him what she always did, that he was pushing himself too hard, that everyone had a stupid day from time to time. But she wouldn’t get, that him having a bad day meant disappointing hundreds of people he only got to meet for this one time maybe. They might not come back after today, if they come home and think - fuck it wasn’t even worth the money! So after all he decided to switch off the light and go to sleep.

And like that he found himself again at the shore of the horribly familiar lake. Once again it was an evening in the dream, the sun slowly sinking behind the horizon, the frogs and night birds starting to make the noise.   

The dream Luke shivered at the chill, the wind was colder than he remembered. He quickly turned around and walked into the cottage. Inside he joined Michael, who  was sitting at the table, making himself a sandwich.

“Mikey?”

“Hmmm?”

“ Do you really have to go tonight?” Luke almost cringed at how small  his voice sounded.

“What do you mean? Of course I have to go, they are already getting suspicious of us. They think that we are with the monster, that we have something to do with the kidnappings.”

Luke made a face. Stupid people, couldn’t they see, that they just wanted to help?

“Or…. I could go with you.” Luke breathed out, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Michael shook his head. “It’s not a good idea! They think, you are cursed! If they trust me only a little right now, they trust you even less! It was a stupid idea to pretend you are an omega, but we cant really take it back anymore.”

“Why not? We could tell them, that I am actually a beta. That we have been lying all the time about me being an omega.”

“Yeah, cause that wouldn’t make them suspicious at all!” Michael took a bite of the sandwich.” Look, I know, Its freaking you out here, but hold on, just a few more days.”

Luke had a bad feeling about this, very bad feeling.  He wanted to find his friends too, but he had a premonition that if he stayed here tonight, he would die for sure.

“Do you think, there is still a chance to find them?  The summer is almost ending, we ve been here for so long, and we couldn’t find a single clue of where the thing might be hiding or even what kind of creature it is. We haven’t found a single trace of Ashton or Calum. They might be already …”

“ Enough!” Michael slammed his hands angrily against the table, looking like he bit into a cockroach.

“ Just shut up. We have no time for whining. We are not leaving until we find that thing and that’s it. I am not leaving without Calum!” He said, pushing the plate away suddenly lost appetite obviously.

 They didn’t say anything else. Luke watched him finish, put on a jacket and left the cottage with a aloud bang of the door.

He immediately locked the door after him and went to sit on the small couch in the corner of the room. It was old and squeaky and the room was getting cold as the last traces of sunlight were disappearing, he wrapped himself into an old mouldy smelling duvet, watching the door closely.

He really wanted to be brave, but the terrible sense of fear and helplessness was choking him again. He couldn’t help but shiver at the cold wind coming inside through the gapes in between the logs.

Suddenly he realized it was almost too silent outside, like the animals just shut up and disappeared. He knew _it_ was coming, he knew _it_ was going to devour him and kill him. He knew he should get up and defend himself but he couldn’t move.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to not pass out, when he heard the door open and a silent steps flapping on the floor.

“ What do you want?” he yelled, finally gaining enough courage to open his eyes, but it looked like he was just surrounded with eerie mist, nothing but white around him.

“ I want you.” The mist sounded from behind him.

“What do you want from me? I am not an omega!”

“Yes, you are. And you ll be mine.” Luke didnt dare to turn around, but he could feel something cold and wet pressed to his back.

“ No, I have already got a mate.” He tried, even though he knew the lie wont work on this one.

“ NO you don’t, he is not your mate, not for real!”

“ He is!”

Icy cold arms sneaked around his body, making him shiver with disgust and terror.

“He hasn’t mated you…”

“ He will …”

Cruel little laugh sounded right next to his left ear.                        

“ He will…”

“ I don’t think so. But all right. If he does….. I will let you go.... otherwise… I will come back… tomorrow!”.

For some reason, it made Luke really angry.

“ What did you do with Ashton and Calum?” he spat out through his cahttering teeth.

Another silent laughter!

“ What did you do with them?” he yelled.

Michael came back two hours later, finding the beta passed out on the floor.

“ What the hell happened? “ he dropped to his knees,  trying to help Luke up from the floor.

Luke blinked, trying to remember how he ended up there.

“What happened?” Michael repeated impatiently. “Why is your back all dirty? Were you outside?”

Luke shook his head, all that happened slowly coming back to him.

“ It was here. It was here.” He finally managed to get out in a hoarse voice.

Michaels eyes grew even larger. “What are you talking about? What do you meant, it was here? You don’t mean .. _it_!”

Luke nodded.

“ You are wrong, you must have been imagining things. Here, have a drink!”

“ I don’t want a fucking drink, I want to get out of here.” Luke shouted at him and slapped the glass of whisky out of Michaels hand.

Michael just stood there looking at him like he grew a second head.

“ I am an omega.” Luke whispered.

“What?!?”

“ I am an omega. And the thing wants to get me!”

“ You are crazy.”

“ I am not, I am  an omega and the thing knows it.”

“ No you are not. We are just pretending you are, remember? You are just stressed and cold. Common, get up. I ll make you a tea.”

 “NO I am not.” Luke shouted so loud, that Michael jerked himself and gave him a startled look. “ I am an omega  and its gonna take me, I know it.”

Michael shook his head. “You ve lost your mind, you really lost it.” He stood up, a helpless look on his face. “Look, I know its been a lot lately, but you have to get it together. I ve finally found a trace of the thing today, I know where it might live. We just have to wait a week for the new moon to go there.”

“ it doesn’t matter, I will be dead by then..” Luke whispered solemnly.

Michael dropped his head into his palms. His face softened and he was giving the beta a sympathetic look now.

“ you have to calm down, ok?” he sat down next to Luke again and started talking to him , like a mother would talk to her baby. “ Its this place, ok? Its playing tricks on your mind, but it will be over in a week , ok? I promise, Just hold on.”

Luke snorted. Yeah, it will be over. For him, for sure. Suddenly he remembered something…

“ Have sex with me!” he grabbed at the sleeve of Michales jacket.

“ Come again???” the alpha tried to shake of his hand, but he was holding him like a leach.

“ fuck me! You have to mate me! It will make it stop!”

“ You are insane, you are a beta. You cant be.. for fucks sake…. mated!” Michael ripped his hand from Lukes grip, getting up from the floor.

“ you have to!”

“stop it! You are crazy. You don’t know what you are saying.” Michael seemed at loss about what to do with him. He was pacing back and forth, apparently trying to think of something to do.

“Suddenly, the door burst open, and there was something reminding a  person standing in the doorway. He was covered in mud and filfth and for a moment Luke couldn’t tell who it was. Until  he spoke in a rasping voice.”

“ Michael? Luke?”

It sounded strange but it was unmistakeably Ashtons voice.

“ Ashton!  Oh my god, ashton, is that you?” Michael didn’t seem to believe his eyes. Then he stopped in his tracks. “ashton! where is calum?”

Ashton ignored him. “ what are you doing here, Luke? You are not supposed to be here .Luke!”

“ Ashton? Where is calum?” Luke repeated.

“ Luke! Wake up!”

“ Where is calum?” Luke refused to give up.

“ Luke!!!” Strong arms shook him awake.

Luke blinked. He was in a dark room, completely confused, when suddenly a sharp light evaded his eyes. Ouch!

“ Ashton ? “ he spotted his face after overcoming the temporary blindness cause by the light of the bedside lamp.

“ are you alright?” the drummer was looking at him worriedly.

“ yeah? “ Luke coughed to clear his throat. “yeah.” He tried again. “ what are you doing here?” it cant already be morning, could it? Dammit, it felt like they just went to sleep.

“ I heard you shouting in your sleep. You must have had a nightmare.“ Ashton sat down next to him on the edge of the bed.

“ I … yeah… did I?” Luke felt relief ( it was just a dream) wash over him , but quickly it was changed with embarrassment.

“You don’t remember?” Ashton looked at him searchingly.

“ No…. I mean, just vaguely.” Luke lied. He really didn’t want to talk about it.

Ashton nodded. “Ok. Do you want me to call Calum?”

“ Calum? Why?”

“ well, you ve been calling his name. You kept asking Where is Calum? Where is Calum? “

Luke wiped the back of his neck, which was dump with sweat. “ No its all right, I just… let him sleep!”

Ashton nodded. And rubbed Lukes shoulder. “ Fine, do you want me to stay here for a minute?”

“ No.. its ok….” Luke gave him a weak smile. Ashton didnt seem convinced, but stood up and moved away from the bed.

“ ok, if you needed anything, I am just behind the wall.” Ahsotn smiled at him and left.

Luke let himself fall back into the bed. Oh my god, it was so embarrassing, Ashton heard him having a nightmare and went in to soothe him like he was an 8 years old. What a great ego booster! He thought sarcastically.

And what about that dream again! No not  a dream , a fucking nightmare! Maybe he really had some problems with his head, maybe he should see someone when they come back to LA. Because his dreams were just getting crazier and crazier!

He made a mental note in the back of his head to find someone when they return from the mini tour.

Even though he calmed a little after making that decision, he still couldn’t fall asleep after that. And he embarrassingly had to keep the light on, because the darkness of the hotel room seemed to be watching him when he switched it off.

Luckily they had a day off the next day and not much to do. He was the last one to get out of the bed, and by the time he managed to eat breakfast it was already raining  outside and so he just stayed inside holed up in his hotel room, aimlessly rolling through the latest tweets.

It might have not been the brightest idea though, because there was a lot of those regarding his singing abilities last night and many of them werent pleasant ones.

He shut of his laptop  and let  out a big sigh.

“ what should I do? “ he asked no one.

These dreams must have some deeper meaning, right? Thats why they keep coming back and haunting him like a ghost.

Some of it he could already guess pretty easily. He had a crush on Michael, and wanted him to notice _him_ instead of Calum. That one was pretty clear. But what about the rest?

Suddenly an idea popped up in his head, there might be something online to help him, he remembered Calums sister one time telling them about those web sites, where they were explaining meanings behind dreams. They made a good mock of her back then, but today…. Maybe it would be worth a try. Luke had a mini debate with himself, finally deciding that he had nothing to do today anyway , so he could as well do this.

He felt little bit like a 15 year old girl, when he opened his laptop again, but at least he had something to occupy himself with.

He found few sites which seemed really cheesy and childish, before he finally ran  into one that look at least a bit plausible.

He typed the first headword that came to his mind. “lake”

_-To dream of a lake represents negative situations or uncertainty in your life with solutions you are aware of, but not currently choosing.-_

Luke read it over a few times.  Was there a negative situation in his life? The only thing he could think of was his unlucky crush on Michael. But was there really  a solution to that problem? He didn’t think so. He definitely wasn’t aware of one.  

-Like any body of water in a dream, the size and condition of the water reflects your emotional state.-

Great, if Luke remembered correctly. The water smelled like someone died in there. Luke shuddered again. So his emotional state wasn’t that great, he could tell that much without having to be told.  

-Difficulty controlling spending or staying away from someone because it's in your best interest when you don't like it. Feeling like a loser having to stop doing something. Knowing what the answer is to a problem or uncertain situation and not caring about it.-

Did it mean, that he had difficulty staying away from Michael, because it was in his best interest? How was he supposed to stay away from him though, they were in a fucking band together, duh???  Knowing what the aswer is… dammit , he didn’t even know what the problem was!

He almost left the page, but in the end he decided to try one more time and typed “monster”.

-A monster is often our projection of a person or situation that is totally unsympathetic to our wishes or feelings.-

Ok, there was no one totally unsympathetic around him right now, so it must be a situation? What kind of situation though, maybe the situation of singing like an idiot in front of hundreds of people?

-Students of very strict parents, or people who are overachievers may dream of monsters to reflect someone or something that forces them to work hard or live with standards that feel unfair or excessive. Feeling forced to study, do homework, or go to the school you don't like.-

Ok, but he was done with school for good. But the overachiever part that definitely sounded like him, maybe his mom was right, maybe he was just trying too hard and was overworking himself.

He hesitated a little before writing another word into the box. “evil”

-To dream that someone or something is evil represents a negative aspect of your personality. Negative thinking patterns or situations in your life. It may reflect fears, desires, hate, anger, jealousy, or guilt that you need to confront. Your own ill intentions towards someone else.-

Ill intention towards someone else.. definitely not! Fears, desires, hate, anger, jealousy… jealousy?!? Was he that jealous of Calum ,that it could cause him bad dreams? He tried to be honest with himself.. he was actually pretty jeaous of the feelings, Michael was harbouring  for Calum, for whatever reason… even though calum made it clear, that the two of them would never gonna happen. Calum was unattainable to Michael, practically dead to him, and Michael still cared more about him than Luke….   Wait , the dream actually made sense after all. Luke was starting to get headache. Great!

By now, Luke was actually convinced, that it wasn’t such a bad idea to search this site. It wasn’t all crap like he had though it to be.

He tried to think of some more words that could describe his dream, finally he found one … invisible.

-To dream of an evil invisible presence may represent your struggle with a problem you want to avoid noticing or thinking about at all. it may also reflect how terrible it feels to confront a problem that you can't identify.-

Problem you cant identify, problem you want to avoid noticing … that pretty accurately described his situation. He had definitely tried to avoid noticing his crush on Michael, and it definitely wasn’t helping. And there was that another thing… that he had tried to avoid even more. Could it be….

Luke took a deep breath and typed “omega”.

There was quite a lot of alpha/omega related articles, but one of them immediately caught his attention.

-Dreaming of being a different sub gender than you are might be a sign of having regrets or second thoughts about your presentation. You might feel disappointed about the sub gender you presented in your waking life or have fears of others being disappointed by it. Dreaming about presenting while still being presented in your waking life might express your wishes or fears about upcoming presentation. -

Luke was deeply immerged in his thoughts. Could it be…. That he secretly wished to present as an omega, so that Michael would notice him? Man, it was so fucked up. He definitely wouldn’t choose to become omega even if he had the choice, which he didn’t, because, because it simply sucked. The heats, the unwanted attention, the heats again… and other things, he didn’t even wanted to think about! Plus he wasnt like… intimately interested in that kind of things, right? Plus his family would probably disown him  and kill him! Plus … one omega was more than enough for a band of made of only 4 members.

Wait, did it mean, he was really that much in love with Michael that he would actually subconsciously wish for becoming and omega, just for him to fall in love with him. What the fuck, of course he wasn’t! Furthermore  the alpha wouldn’t notice him even if he presented as one. There was no way. These sites were full of crap after all, he decided. Lot of these things could fit literary anything, anyone could find something that could match something in his life! He was a fool to even read this.

There was a knock on the door, Luke looked up from the screen , quickly shutting the  laptop, terrified that someone could see what he was looking at.  

Calum slipped into the room, a wicked smile shining on his face, while he was hiding something behind his back.

Luke pushed the laptop aside.

“ look, who has spent all day all huddled up his room. “ calum mocked him but with no real heat behind his words.  

“Nah, its raining outside.” Luke started making up excuses.  

“ Oh, I remember someone who kept annoying everyone for hours with  what kind of places  he will visit when we get to Bueanas Aires. Where he will go sightseeing, go where he will shopping… “

Luke groaned. “ Ok. Ok, I know. I am just not feeling up to it today.” He was starting to feel ungrateful again, years ago, when  he had no money and opportunity to travel he could only wish for being able to go to all those places and now when he has the opportunity,  he is wasting a perfectly good day by lying  around and moping.

“ Hey , stop overthinking it. We didn’t do much either, the weather sucks. Just went to one market place, and ran back!”

Calum said with a soothing smile hovering on his lips.

“ It ok to relax from time to time, man.” he assured him again. “anyway, I bought you something on the market.”

Calum finally stopped hiding whatever he was holding behind his back and Luke stared at it for a minute, before it dawned on him.

It was  a  dream a catcher, a beautiful one.

Luke blinked. “Did Ashton say something?” he asked carefully.

Calum looked at him a bit sheepishly. “He mentioned something. But nothing specific.”

“ Aaaargh.” Luke hanged his head in embarrassment. Wasn’t it enough, that Ashton knew about the nightmare?

“ Common, its no biggie, happens to the best of us. Wanna talk about it?”

“ Not really.”

 Calum looked like anticipated this answer.“ tahts ok, I still thought this might come in handy. I have one, it works, I swear!”

Luke took the dream catcher from him. “ Thank you. Its really beautiful.” Even though he still felt kinda ashamed, He couldnt help but feel touched at his best friends concern. In the end he reached over and wrapped his arms around the omega, squeezing him in a bear hug.

“ Uuh, I cant breathe. “ the bassist let a out a chuckle but squeezed him back with as much force.

“ Love you, man” Luke  muttered.

“ Oh, really?” Calum battered his eye lashes in a mocking gesture

Luke slapped his shoulder. “ Shut up. Not in that way.” He laughed. “ But I promise if you ever get lost, I wont be coward, and wont stop until I find you.”

 “ ehmm, what??”

“ Never mind. Forget it!”

“ Oh..okay.” Calum made a face at him. “ Weirdo.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the dream explanations from dreambible.com  
> Anyway... hope you liked this one!  
> Next one is coming really soon, and I promise I am done with the dream and move on to some real stuff this time.  
> Love you 
> 
> LM


	30. Sydney 2017

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I am too tired to write a summary, you will have to read it! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to thank you all a lot for all the nice comments you ve been writing, honestly i didnt expect it when i started writing this story. But its so nice to see there are actually people reading it. Thank you.

Luke was currently sitting in his oldest brother’s living room, waiting for a cup coffee. Ben and Charlie had moved to Sydney, after Ben had been offered a job there, so now  Luke could use the short time they got to spend in their homeland in December, not only to visit his parents and Jack, but also  Ben and Charlie.

His oldest brother and his father still hadn’t reconciled though. His old man couldn’t get over the fact that his oldest son chose to live with a guy ( an omega one at the top of that) whereas Ben had a hard time to forgive him for how he treated them when he first brought Charlie home.

His mother proved to be the more broad-minded one of them, she hadn’t completely warmed up to Bens omega either but at least she seemed to accept the reality and that it was Bens life and his choice after all. She came to terms with the situation enough that Ben and Charlie could pop in from time to time when she was home alone.

At first Luke felt like he should feel somehow awkward around Charlie, he didn’t even know why he felt that way but couldn’t get rid of that feeling. But after a few visits he  actually grew to like him. He couldn’t help but after a while he unintentionally started comparing him to Calum in his mind,  most likely because he was the only other male omega he got to know better. They had something in common, they were both really nice, caring and kinda protective, but in other ways they were utterly different. Where Calum was fierce, bold and adamantly independent, Charlie was more pliable, shy ( at least he seemed so) and also  little bit more clingy. They were equally stubborn though, even if Calums way of showing it was doing whatever he fucking wanted regardless of what others thought, while Charlie tended to talk everyone into having his way, usually without them even noticing. It worked especially well with his brother, which Luke still couldn’t get over. All his life he considered his oldest brother the most strong headed and unbending person with one track mind, not letting anyone getting into his way, even his own family. He could even come over as A bit of a loner and grump sometimes, but never one to submit.

Yet here he was, stepping back happily to give some space to his boyfriend. Whatever Charlie was doing, he was doing it right… and Luke had a hunch, that this relationship might actually work out.

“ Sugar?” Charlie called from the kitchen.

“no, thanks.” Luke called back in reply and a moment later there was a cup of coffee on the coffee table on front of him.

“So, what are you up to now? Ben told me you are working on a new album.”

Luke blushed a little, he felt like someone was talking about his baby. “yeah, well, big part of it is already finished, but there is still some work to do.”

“It should be good. I better not have been bragging about my little brother for no reason at all.”  His brother walked into the room, with a cup of coffee in his hand, and plopped down on the couch next to his boyfriend.

“ Have you told him already?”

“ Nope, have been waiting for you.” The omega sipped at his ice tea and casually swung his legs up on the couch , placing them over his alphas lap.

“ what you haven’t told me?” Luke eyed them cautiously . Over the last few years he learned to be quite suspicious when it came to people hiding things from him.

“ Are you still here next week?”

“ Yeah. What are you up to?”

“ well, I took a few days off at work and Charlie has holiday at uni.  So we were planning on going for a small camping trip. Jack joined in, because Celeste is out of town anyway, so he is clearly bored. But well… we were thinking…” he cleared his throat.

“We need someone to distract him.” Charlie finished for him.

“ what?”

“yup, so he wouldn’t be bothering Charlie all the time.”

Luke almost spat out his coffee.  “Its still going on?” he said. He couldn’t believe his brother was still so hooked up on chasing male omegas.

“ I don’t think It will ever change. He is clearly stuck in puberty forever.”

“ common, it has not been that bad lately.”  Charlie  tried to stand up for the younger Hemmings, earning himself  “ are you kidding me look” form his boyfriend.

“Three words - your birthday party.”

 Charlie turned a very nice shade of red at that, which immediately caught Lukes attention.

“ what happened?” If there was a story, he wanted to know.

Ben looked at his boyfriend with an evil flickers sparkling  in his eyes.

“ Oh no…don’t you dare.”

“ He spent a good 40 minutes, trying to get Charlie to tell him, ehmmm…”

“ stop it! You promised you ll stop teling everyone.”

“ Luke is family, he doesn’t count.”

“So he spent a good hour, trying to get Charlie to tell him how exactly do male omega reproductive organs work. In practice.”

Luke couldn’t help but started laughing, his brother sooo hasn’t changed.

“ It was so fucking embarrassing, There were people around. Everyone like stopped talking and they were all looking at us.…” Charlie seemed mortified by just talking about it.  

“ well, it got especially awkward  when he got to the slick part. I think you resembled  a very nice ripe tomato.”

Charlie dropped his head into his hands.  “Please, tell me why are we talking about it again???”

“because, it was funny.”

“O h really?  that’s not what you said, when you almost broke his arm by dragging him outside.. to have  ehmmm… talk!”

By now, Luke couldn’t help but burst out laughing! He didn’t know whom he felt more sorry for, Charlie for being so embarrassed at his own birthday party or Jack for getting on the wrong side of Ben. In any case he really regretted missing that one party! Then again they never really told his brother, what happened in his flat while he was gone that one time he borrowed it to Calum, and Luke had an incredible itch to tell him whenever they were together and alcohol was involved ever since , because… him and holding secrets didn’t  go together so well. So it was probably for the best.

“Anyway, let’s move on!” Charlie apparently decided to change the subject to spare himself more embarrassment. “We were thinking you could join in too!”

“ To distract Jack?  “

“ Obviously not just to distract Jack,we thought we could make it kinda a family thing. To spend some time together. We wont make it to the Christmas day this year, you know why, so this could be like some way to get together.”

“ But  if the guys ( meaning the band) want to join it too, its ok with us. The more the better!” Charlie added quickly.

Luke thought about it for a minute. It could be fun, he didn’t get to spend much time with both his brothers ever since Ben and dad fell out. And he already missed the band, even though it’s been just a week. “ actually it’s not such a bad idea. you know what? I ll call them right away.”

 

Calum was lying on his back, breathing heavily, with his right arm covering his face. Even with the AC on , he was sweating profoundly. Most likely thanks to the _exercise_ he just went through.

“ Wow, we really should get our own place here.” He managed to voice finally after a good minute of trying to  catch his breath.

Michael smirked from the other side of the bed, obviously gloating at how wrecked Calum sounded.

“ for the total of 3 weeks we are actually home?”

Calum huffed. “don’t be a grump. It’s the only time we don’t have to care about thin hotel walls, or someone coming early back to the tour bus, which by the way happens all the time. And unlike in LA we are not stressed out with the recording and stuff here.”

“ common. LA is not that bad, its your fault that you can always find something to be busy with  when we are there.” The alpha rolled over on his side and carefully stroke calums naked chest.

“Too many opportunities! Anyway my point stands, my folks are always home, and its almost impossible to get your parents out of the house. I am an 21 year old adult but I  feel like a horny cock blocked teenager all over again. That’s insane.”

Michael snorted out a laugh. “Horny you say? I thought I just helped you with this.” he moved his hand higher to calums neck and slowly lowered his face, obviously aiming for Calums lips.

The omega had none of it though, he turned away and pushed michaels head away with his right hand. “I am being serious here, how come our parents are such couch potatoes?”

“ well, luckily someone conveniently gifted them two theater tickets for their anniversary. “ Michel smirked.

Calum let out a giggle. “ it wasn’t a bad idea, was it? Otherwise we would have died from blue balls by the time we got back to LA.”

Michael hummed in agreement. “ you are an absolute genius, baby.” He cooed at the omega. “ And you deserve to be rewarded.” his hand was aiming  to the south this time, slowly sliding over Calums well defined abs.

Calum swiftly grabbed for his hand and hold it in place before it could sink under the sheet covering his hips.

“ your parents might be back soon…”

Michael groaned, and dropped his face into the pillow, just next to Calums head.

“ see, that’s why we should get a place here. “ calum said with a hint of triumph in his voice.

“Hmmm.” Michael looked like he fell asleep, but made no move to remove  his hand form calums belly.

“But since we don’t have one though, maybe we could …. Just one more time, before your parents are back.” Calum grinned at him.

It seemed to bring Michael around immediately. In milliseconds he climbed on  top of the omega, wasting no time before pressing their faces together. Calum giggled into the kiss and twisted his hips just enough to make the alpha let out a deep groan. The thin fabric of the sheet covering Calums lower half was creating just enough friction between their groins to make them both desperate really quickly.

Suddenly a familiar ringtone sounded form the bed side table.

“Argh.” Michael growled and reached for the phone. Looking at the screen already cursing whatever dipshit it was that had to  call him right now.

“ who is it?” Calum asked and lifted himself up  on his elbows.

“Nah, just Luke.” Michael replied while silencing the call and pushing the phone aside.

“ are you kidding me? Your not gonna get it?”

“no” Michael answered grumpily trying to push the omega back into the cushions.

“ Michael!”

“ Oh common, you’re not serious.”

“ what if there is something urgent going on?”

“ something urgent? What urgent thing could it be, we are on holiday remember?  And you know Luke, if it was something urgent he would call ashton. Or you..”

At that moment calums phone started ringing.

Calum gave him the “see, I ve told you look” and reached for his phone,  effectively pushing the alpha out of the way.

The Guitarist  groaned loudly as he rolled away on his side of the bed. “if he is not at least dying, I am gonna kill him!”

Calum shushed him. The alpha pulled a face at him, but stayed silent, watching soundlessly as the omega answered the phone.

<Hi, are you busy?> He could hear Luke comfortably from where he was lying.

“Not at all.”  the omega replied immediately.

Michael next to him let out another desperate groan. “ are you kidding me?”

Calum put a finger to his lips to make him stop talking.

After Luke explained why he was calling, Michael rolled his eyes again. Luke fucking Hemmings, of course it wasn’t anything urgent , he just couldn’t wait fucking 20 minutes to have this call.

“Of course, that sounds great, we are in.” the omega chirped into the phone happily.

Wait, what? “What?” Michael fixed a slightly disturbed look at the omega.

Calum made another shush sound at him.

I mean, I am going. Don’t know about Michael. But I think he would like to go.

By now Michael was glaring at him intensely while simultaneously Moving his lips in what sounded like “I am gonna kill you too!”

<Great, Im gonna call others. I ve called Michael, but he wasn’t answering. Like usual, who knows what he is doing.>

Calum pressed his hand against his mouth to stifle a giggle. Michael for some reason failed to find the humor in the situation.

“He might come over later tonight, I m gonna tell him to call you back, ok?”

Michael folded his arms over his chest “Lets see if he will…” he muttered under his breath.

Calum gave him a warning look. “Ok, see you , Bye!”

As soon as he put away the phone, the omega slapped Michaels chest. “ what the fuck? He almost heard you!” his tone wasn’t really scolding, but the alpha felt offended anyway.

“ hey, it wasn’t my idea to keep hiding. You promised me, we will tell them soon. Two months ago!”

Calum looked at him bashfully. “ I know, I just … I am not ready yet.”

Michael  sighed again. “ I wonder why that is.” He whispered to himself.

“ what?”

“ nothing.”

“ common” the omega snuggled closer to his side.

“ I just don’t like feeling like your dirty little secret.”

Calums face showed a mix of conflicted emotions. “That’s not how I think about you.” he tried to assure the scowling alpha.

“ I know.”

“ So…. What about if I made it up to you, hmm?  We still have some time left.” He winked at the alpha.

“Well… we have like 15 minutes before my parents may come back.”

Calum smiled. “ I can be quick.”

“ good, take a shower quickly than, because by the time they are here we have to look decent, like we ve been just playing fifa here all the time or whatever. Unless you really want to tell them, in which case I recommend calling Ashton and Luke first, because they would be sooo mad, if they didn’t find out first hand.”

This time it was Calums turn to let out a growl. “Ok.”  He finally gave in,  stood up, and shuffled to the bathroom.

Michael sighed and fixed his stare at the empty place on the left side of the bed. He kept staring at it with a little sad expression until he could hear the shower running.

Then he pushed himself up and reached for his phone, with one shining notice on the screen – one missed call from Luke Hemmings. “Lets get it over rather sooner than later.” He mumbled to himself.

 

Ashton didn’t join them for the trip, instead he chose to spend more time with his own family which he always complained to see too little. Luek had expected that much, still had to at least try.

 After ashton declined, it was only six of them and they could comfortably fit into Jacks new van.

As Calum and Michael were waiting to be picked up before Calums house, Michael used the extra time they had alone to whine some more.

“ Why did you have to agree to this?”

“ common it’s gonna be fun!”

“ Fun? Dragging themselves into the middle of nowhere just to bed down in a fucking tiny tent alongside snakes, ants and who knows what other vermin, in this fucking heat. Sounds like hell to me, not fun!”

“ It won’t be that bad, and it will do you some good to go for a hike somewhere else than in your video games. Take it as another quest… a real life quest.”

Michael snorted at Calums try at what was supposed to be calums version of pep talk.

“ common, don’t tell me you are not looking forward to spending 3 nights in a small tent with me! If I remember correctly you liked it that time in July.”

A trace of  smile flickered over michaels face, before he turned it into a scowl again. He was pretty easy when it came to Calum, but not that easy!

“ But that time we were there alone and there wasn’t much walking if _I_ remember correctly. More like moving in horizontal position.”

“ who told you, there will be no such thing this time?”

“ Really? With half of Lukes fucking family sleeping next to us? You really think , they might not hear us?”

“ we could be quiet?”

“ Come again?” Michael looked like he wanted to burst out laughing but was holding back for the sake of calums dignity.

 “ok, ok. So no shenanigans for three days. Still it could be romantic… just cuddling below the stars”

“ Nah, you don’t need me for that. You seem to enjoy cuddling with Luke the best.”

Calum dug his elbow into his ribs.

“Ouch!”

 “ Its different.” The omega puffed up, but there was hint of blush coloring his cheeks, that Michael chose to ignore ( or tried to).

“ yeah, yeah. You are just friends, I ve heard that one before. “

“ you are impossible today, do you know that?”

“ are you really surprised?”

“ not really. Ok! lets make a deal. You go through this for me, and the last few days we spend in Australia, I will be all yours. I will somehow manage to get my folks out of the house….”

“ and how do you want to do that?”

“ leave it up to me!”

“ hmmm”

“ And we wont leave the bed if you dont want to.”

Michaels whole face lit up almost ridiculously after he heard that. Ok, maybe he was that easy, when it came to calum!

“ ok, I we ve got the deal. Except one more thing?”

Calum looked at him questioningly.

“You will at least think about spending a heat with me! A real one.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo.... the Hemmings brothers and Malum on a camping trip! what could go wrong...   
> Hope you liked this one.   
> I ll try to update as soon as possible, I am already looking forward to writing the next chapter.   
> anyway love you   
> LM


	31. Outside I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some piece of Michaels mind.

To Michael it felt like eternity until they reached the small hillock, where they were supposed to pitch the camp. He felt so exhausted and overheated that the only thing he could think about anymore was the cold water in the pool next to his LA house. He cursed the day he let himself to be talked into this insanity.

They had been continuously moving up for the better part of the afternoon, and Michael felt like he just played full set in the middle of the desert, ten times in the row. What crazy person could have even come up with this idea. Luke’s fucking brother that’s who. Speaking of Luke, apart from himself, the blonde haired beta seemed to be the only other person who didn’t look like he was exactly thrilled by the 3 hours long march. On the opposite he looked like he positively wanted to murder his oldest brother, and maybe Jack too, because the ever so energized alpha couldn’t shut up for the most of the walk, and this time he chose Luke as his “willing” listener. Probably for the simple reason, that  Calum and Charlie, along with Ben, were quite far ahead of him and Luke.

Everyone who would pass by could tell on the first sight, who actually enjoyed the trip ( the three weirdoes ahead) and who just suffered through it to get to enjoy the barbecue and beer at the top ( the normal people plus Jack).

After a while  it occurred to Mike, that Jack could in fact catch up with the front group if he tried but he stayed where he was because he had better view form where he was walking next to Luke, the fucker … Michael couldn’t care less that he ogled Charlies backside, but he would he really love to kick his ass for ogling his boyfriend ( Michael was the only one allowed to do that), especially since he still remembered _that_ incident.  He would have probably at least slapped him, if he didn’t have to concentrate all his remaining energy into putting one leg in front of the other.  Also he would have to explain everybody why he was so overprotective of _his best friend,_ which probably wouldn’t sit well with the omega either.

Anyway unlike Jack and Luke, who had way better view,  Michael had to settle for Lukes ass for the most of the walk. At least since he told Calum to go ahead and don’t wait up for him because his ego especially suffered every time the omega had to stop so he and Luke could catch up. 

Fuck, he should really hit the gym from time to time. The only comfort he had in this situation was that Luke didn’t seem to be doing that much better, clearly having grown a bit lazy since leaving the Hemmings household for the life on the tour bus, which basically meant playing and sleeping and playing and sleeping. Well, Ashton and Calum still managed to keep themselves in shape but… but… well he had to put the blame on something.

Before him Luke suddenly stopped, and Jack left him to to catch up with the others. The blonde haired beta was clearly trying to catch his breath, judging by the huffs that were leaving his gaping mouth as he was standing there with his hands rested against his thighs and  looking at the slope with a murderous look in his eyes.

Michael didn’t waste the opportunity to remind him that it was actually him who got them into this situation.

“ Fuck, why the hell did you have to invite me to do  this?”

“ you didn’t have to… say …. yeas.” Lukes lungs still didn’t  seem to catch up with their owner.

“ any idea, when we will be there…” Michael tried in case the beta had some better info about their final destination.

“ no…but…  Ben told me, it isn’t  far away.”

“ when did he tell you?”

“ two hours ago..” Michael wasn’t even surprised.

“ your family is fucking insane. Are they even human? I thought Ben  might at least restrain himself a little bit when he is bringing his omega with him, but Charlie seems to be even  worse than him.”

“He is an amateur mountain climber.”

“Who, Charlie??? You are pulling my leg, right?”

“No, Jack just told me! That’s how he and Ben got to know each other, they went on the same climbing trip.” 

“Are you telling me, that I went on a hike…. with two mountaineers, one passionate  hiker ( read Calum) and your younger older brother.”

“ And me.”

“ Wow, that actually makes me feel better. Don’t look at me like this, I mean it.  at least one other incompetent lazy person apart from me to keep me company. “

“ hey!”

“ what??? I haven’t really seen you getting much exercise outside of the stage.”

“And you did?”

“ Touche! But _I_ also don’t pretend I am doing  an awesome job here, and it also wasn’t my idea to do this.”

“ it wasn’t my idea either… and no one forced you to come. If I didn’t know better, I would say you only came because of Calum did?” the beta had the nerves to smirk at him.

Michael huffed. “Fuck off.” He actually had no better response for this.

“ Hey, what are you doing down there? We can already  see the spot.” Jacks voice sounded from around a turn.

“ oh thanks god.” Luke let out a relived breath  and straightened  himself up again.

Michael couldn’t but agree.

When they finally scrambled up to the site, Ben had already almost finished building his tent, Jack had apparently started up on his, than lost interest and  currently seemed more occupied with unpacking the beer.

“Hey, Lukey! with whom do you want to share the tent?” Jack asked him in between beer gulps.

Michael froze. He had counted on that  it was already settled that the two Hemmings will be sleeping together! He is so going home, if he doesn’t get to  share a tent with Calum! That’s the only reason why he let himself be lured into this!

“I don’t care. Not you though!” Luke shouted back at his brother.

“ Arrgh, you are hurting my feelings, little brother.” Jack clutched at his chest dramatically.  “Ok, I am with Charlie.”

“ haha, that’s  a good one.” Ben snorted out a laugh from where he was staking his tent to the ground.

“ok, I am with calum then.”  Jack refused to give up. The bassist  gave him a non impressed look and rolled his eyes.

“ What?” Jack defended himself.  “I got ditched by my own brother, and Romeo and Juliet over there need some time to cuddle. so Calum is my only option left.”

Michael cleared his throat. “ I am with Calum, we’ve already agreed on this.” He uttered icily

“ Did we?” Luke mumbled while folding his hands over his chest. Well, you could be with Michael, Jack.”

Michael took a breath to make another protest, but before he could put it down in words… Ben interrupted him impatiently.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course Jack will share with Luke, its a family trip after all. Luke, you  see Michael and Calum every day most of the time, so suck it up and spend a few night with your family or go home.  ” Ben effectively ended the discussion and spoke with such a natural  authority, that no one actually dared to continue on that topic.  “and stop fucking around and build the tents quickly. If you want to eat any time soon, we still need to prepare the fire.” Ben finished his speech.

“Roger that.” calum grinned. The omega seemed to be in his element, and immediately started rummaging in his backpack to find everything necessary to build the tent. Michael couldn’t help but feel a spike of jealousy at the fact  that Calum listened to the oldest alpha without any objections.  Even though the guitarist rationally knew Ben was Lukes brother, a mated one none the less, his inner alpha couldn’t help but see him as a possible threat. Michael was aware that these cavemen instincts were just messing with is mind, because if not for anything else Ben definitely didn’t need to look for another omega,   Charlie was  fucking hot, well objectively speaking, he wasn’t as hot as calum of course, but still  pretty good. Blonde  hair, bluish eyes, not as radiant as Lukes, more like grey- blue, but still really pretty, disarming smile. All in all Charlie was a hottie, apart from the mountaineer part, that was fucking scary!  Anyway Michael still didn’t like the way Calum submitted to the other alpha so easily, even though he usually had hundreds  objections to almost everything anyone told him to do.

“Hey, wanna help me with this, or you need some more time to take a better look at  Bens boyfriend. calum sent him a partly amused , partly pissed of look and a second later  a pack of tent poles landed at his feet.

“ Gotta warn you though, if you keep staring like this, Ben will probably notice and he might not be exactly happy about it.”

Michel snorted  and after a quick look around he walked over  to the omega and with a mischievous grin hovering on his lips took a swing and  slapped his ass.

The omega started up before he realized what was going on and   hissed at him more in shock than annoyance, while he started  frantically looking around searching for who might have seen that.

“Relax, no one is watching, jack is busy building a tent, luke is busy criticizing him,  and Ben and Charlie  are well… just busy.”

Calum looked into their direction …. Only to see the couple kissing passionately next to their already set up tent.

“ oh, common. Just look at them , they are so sweet I might get diabetes just form watching them.” Jack commented.

“ stop rambling, and watch out  where you re putting these poles.” Luke scolded his brother who clearly had trouble connecting the poles of the tent.  The beta briefly looked  up from where he was sitting on his knees trying to figure which pole went where to see what was the commotion about and quickly averted his eyes again with a light blush evident on his cheeks. Oh , Lukey! Michael couldn’t help but smile,  the youngest 5sos member still got embarrassed so easily. One wouldn’t tell he had been in a 3 year long solid relationship by the way he reacted to any kind of PDA. He was still blushing like a shocked virgin. It was actually kinda cute.

“ michael! “

“ what?”

Calum rolled his eyes. “ I said, give me the tarp. Unless you want to spend the night in Lukes and Jacks tent, you sure look like you want to cuddle with them. What got into you today?”

“ I beg you pardon. The only one I want the cuddle tonight… or anytime  is you!”

“ hands off!  At least until the others are out of sight.”

“ oh, what should I do with you.” the alpha drew his hands back but kept looking at his omega dreamily.

“ you should help me build the tent. Then we can think of something else.“

Arrgh, what am I doing here, Michael thought.  I have a house in LA, a fucking big house with ac and  pool and a real bed, more than one bed actually, but still here he was  having to build up a fucking tent in a middle of nowhere so that he had at least some chance to get to at least cuddle with his boyfriend. It was so unfair!

“ are you fucking kidding me! It won’t connect like this!”

“ it would, if you didn’t put the tarp upside down.” Michael chuckled  as he  looked over  at  the fighting Hemmings, maybe everything wasn’t so bad here, this sight was actually quite worth it. He should have maybe brought a popcorn and a camera though.

 

Later that night, when it mercifully got a bit colder. They were sitting in a circle around the little campfire, and well fed and given a beer, Michael finally understood why some people would willingly undergo this torture. He could finally appreciate the beauty of the place,  they were far enough from civilization to see the stars above them, not far enough to not to see the lights of nearby town shining in the distance. It both looked pretty magical.

Charlie and Ben were cuddled up together across form him. Both of them were looking pretty content lying there, huddled up in each others space, their scents merging together in what actually made quite a good combination. Michael never thought about it like that…. Like that alphas and omega mates scents were actually made to fit together perfectly, to make a brand new scent.  

He couldn’t  help but think about him and calum and wonder if they could ever be like this. Could they reach this far in their relationship to take this step together? Could their scent even fit? He was told he smelt kinda spicy and he had to their word because it was actually pretty hard to judge your own smell.  On the other hand, Calum smelled a bit funky, not so much sweet, but more earthy with some fruity undertones, it was really hard to describe. Which actually match his personality pretty well. Would their scents fit well together? Or would they clash?

The thing with mating was, that it could be totally unpredictable. The scientists have yet to come up with an explanation for forming such a strong bond. Not only it wasn’t cleared how exactly was the bond formed, only that it had something to do with the hormones in the mating gland, but the process of creating the bond could vary significantly from couple to couple. Most researchers agreed there had to be sex, biting into the mating gland, and knotting, but there were actually documented cases of bond being created without the knot or the bite… and many other cases of the bond not being created even though the knotting and biting took pace, even if it happened on regular basis. Many considered it a sign that the two weren’t meant to be, when the bond failed to appear even though they were doing everything right. Some scientist just wrote it off to malfunctioning mating gland, the concept of soulmates not scientific enough to be taken seriously.

 And then there was the heat thing, it was generally understood that the heat was favourable time to create a bond, someone said that necessary, and most couples chose this time for first attempt at creating the bond. But  sometimes the bond could be created even out of heat, and sometimes even in heat the bond didnt appear. And to make it all more confusing, there were cases when against all odds the bond unexpectedly created, sometimes even as unwanted one.  Case when  one of the partners ( or both) wasn’t even emotionally involved in the affair, or in extreme cases one of them  wasn’t even consenting to intercourse.  The so called forced ( or rape) bond was a matter of great controversy, even thought it was very rare.   

The nature clearly still triumphed  over the science in this area. Michael remembered learning all this after his presentation, when he for some time became actually pretty obsessed with these things. But whatever fascinated him back then, actually scared him a little bit now.  The thought that he would accidently mate  calum wasn’t actually that scary, even though Calum would probably freak out. What positively terrified him was the thought that  he would find himself unable to do so, like if they tried, not now but one day in the future when they are ready , and they would find out, they are not a perfect match! It wasn’t like the bond was necessary for a relationship to work out, not at all, nowadays most of the couples weren’t actually mated, but still Michael wanted to have this kind of connection with someone.  Sitting here, watching a couple like Ben and Charlie, it made him want something similar .. it made him insanely much want something like this with calum. But  some tiny little voice at the back of his mind kept whispering, that it would never happen, he didn’t know why, maybe it was just that he was stressing himself  about it.  And also it was really too soon to even think about mating! They haven’t even told anybody about their relationship!

At first Calum adamantly refused to even consider the idea of coming out as a couple, later Michael somehow managed to sweet talk him into at least entertaining the idea, but still the omega kept avoiding the topic and putting off having to deal with it. Sometimes Michael felt like they were  more of fuck buddies than anything else.

Michael wasn’t stupid, he was well aware of the reasons why the bassist finally yielded to his advances.  It was soon after Luke split up with Arzaylea, and Calum even thought he was doing a great job consoling his friend, didn’t actually seem that heartbroken about it. Luke grieved a lot but then he found  his first rebound hook up, pretty beta girl again. And that’s when Calum seemingly lost all his hope for the cake ever happening. Luke might have remained totally oblivious but Michael who knew the omega whole his life, could almost pinpoint the exact moment when he gave up.  

Soon after he and Calum hooked up and later started their secret relationship. And Michel knew that in calums case it was  settling for the second best, but he wasn’t that worried about it because Calum and Luke, it was never gonna happen. What made him loose his sleep tough was the persistent worry that Calum wasn’t taking their relationship as seriously as him. Calum was never big on showing off his emotions, even Michael who knew him all his life, had a hard time telling what was going on in his head. But there were some disturbing signs, like that he didn’t want them to come clean about their relationship ( even though he blamed it Ashtons relationship ban), or that he refused to spend a heat with him, or …. And that was the one that bothered Michael the most, to even let him knot him. Knotting was a pleasurable experiences for most of the omegas, and even though Calum claimed that he wasn’t that much into it, he also admitted he has done that before with other partners. And Michael couldn’t find a single reason why he couldn’t trust him enough to do with him what he apparently did with some unimportant hook ups.

He was gradually falling into a moping mode , when mercifully a loud yawn coming from Jack  brought him out of his depressing thoughts.

“ Ok, people I don’t know how about you, but I am calling it a night. Have to rest for tomorrow.” Michael immediately got suspicious, what was planned for tomorrow? Hopefully not another 3 hour walk.

Jack set aside an empty beer bottle and crawled  into his and Lukes tent. Few minutes later loud snoring sounded from the middle tent. Luke let out a load groan, Michael almost felt sorry for the beta. Even more so, when they finally zipped up their tent and went to sleep too. Because they could even hear the snoring from their tent, poor Luke.

Than it briefly occurred to  Michael that the snoring could actually mute some other, noises that could be heard otherwise. Lets say some little moaning… but when he turned to Calum to inform him about his genius idea,  he found out that the omega was already sound asleep . So he took a deep breath,  wrapped himself up in his sleeping bag and thank to the exhaustion of the previous day dropped of very quickly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time .... Luke will find the hard way not to enter a tent without knocking :D   
> Btw does anyone know how do you knock on a tent? 
> 
> Much love   
> LM


	32. Outside II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, its a bit different than I expected, but anyway. Have fun!

The second day of their trip started in a peaceful way, at least more peaceful  than Michael anticipated. Although Ben suggested that they should all take a short trip to the nearby peak, the considerable defiance of better part of the group made him reconsider the idea.  In the end the ascent remained an optional thing and to no big surprise it was in the end just Ben, Charlie and Calum who decided to put on their boots again and drag themselves even further up the hill.

 Jack felt obviously torn between joining the group consisting mostly of omegas, and staying in the camp, where he could  keep drinking away the beer supplies. In the end he obviously chose the second option, because he observed that he wanted to enjoy his younger brothers company before he flies away again and stayed with Michael and Luke  at the tents.

Luke had spent most of the morning in his tent, apparently catching up on sleep he didn’t manage to get last night thanks to Jacks snoring.

So it left just Michael and Jack laying around the camp, drinking beer and enjoying the slight morning breeze.

Michael felt so comfortable that he didn’t even notice that Jack had been staring at him searchingly for some time. So he  really wasn’t prepared when out of sudden Jack threw _that_ question at him.

“ So, are you and Calum together?” Luke’s brother asked with a smirk hovering on his lips.

Michael froze with a bottle of beer half way to his lips.

“ What?” he managed to blurt out along with a short laugh, which didn’t sound convincing at all though.

“ Just saying that you seem awfully close. “ Jack shrugged, and took another sip of the beer, still keeping his eyes on the other alpha.

“ Do we? “ Michael really hoped that from Jack  it was just a blind guess.

“ Yes, more than usual I would say. Plus your scents are all over each other.”

Fuck! And Michael had thought, that they had been careful, that if Ashton , who could basically make a living as a private detective, if he ditched the music career,  didn’t notice, that no one would. But apparently Jacks nosiness surpassed even their drummers observation skills.

“I guess, you haven’t told Lukey either.” Jack chuckled. It wasn’t even a question anymore. “Does Ashton know?”

Michael quickly assessed, that there was no point in denying anymore. “ No, we haven’t told the guys yet.” He confessed while taking a big gulp from his bottle, trying to think of where to go from here.

Jack shrugged again. “ That’s your problem, I guess. Its not my place to tell you what to do, but maybe you should consider telling at least the band? I don’t know how about Ashton,  but if you are worried about Luke, I can assure you he will happy for the two of you.”

Michal didn’t share his conviction, but wasn’t too keen to argue abou this one, because Luke was jacks little brother after all. He also didn’t want to give away that it was in fact calums decision to keep their relationship a secret, on the other hand, he actually felt like moron before Lukes older brother, who was in no doubt trying to look out for hi little brother and now he kinda made him lie to him. He had to say something though, because the silence was stretching and it was obvious that jack was waiting for some kind of reaction.

“I know. It just happened so quickly, that we didn’t really think about it. I mean…. We are actually just waiting for the right moment.” He stammered out in the end inm a voice that wasn’t really dripping confidence.

“ Calm down , man. Its none of my business really. Just saying… it must me pretty difficult to hide something like this on tour. Wouldn’t it be easier to just own up to it?”

Michael just shrugged. Of course it would be easier, but it wasn’t just his decision to make.

Unknown to them, all the time they were having this pretty awkward conversation, the beta who was not supposed to find out was lying in his tent wide awake, being able to make out most of what they were saying. Shock and denial were mixing in his head and a  horrible feeling was  growing in his guts as he was trying to process what he just unintentionally overheard.

So it was truth! All the fucking time, he wasn’t just imagining things, his two band mates were actually together, and they hadn’t told either him or Ashton! As the realization was gradually settling in, Luke was growing more and more angry! How did Michael phrase it – they just didn’t think about it! Oh,good for them! Obviously his and Ashtons feelings weren’t relevant enough for them to think about them! They must have had a good laugh at their expense every time they were  pretending to be just friends and doing friendly activities  while they were literary fucking around behind their backs!

Luke suddenly felt so mad, that he had to literary hold himself to not to punch the tent.  But he didn’t want to give away that he uncovered the truth just yet. If those two assholes wanted to play games, they had it going, he could play to. Luke was lying in the tent, bottling up his anger for another 30 minutes before he managed to calm down a little bit and  thought it safe to climb out of his tent and pretend like he had just woken up. He faked a yawn and could see that the the dumbass alpha didn’t suspect a thing.

Luke waited whole day before an opportunity arose for him to  do something. After Calum, Ben and Charlie returned to the camp, all hot and sweating but unnaturally happy about that, they had a quick meal, before Ben suggested that that they could take a bath in a nearby flooded quarry. No one protested this time, because it was getting really hot again. After they reached the shore of the quarry, Luke decided  to start  with  his plan. It wasn’t really a complicated scheme, all he had to do was to undress  before Michael managed to get out of his clothes and push Calum inside the water half clothed, making the omega let out a big yelp and promise a sweet revenge. Than it was pretty easy,  he just had  to keep the omega busy for the rest of the afternoon, and effectively  dodge Michael’s attempts to steal him back for himself or to have some private time. The omega was always up for some fun, so it wasn’t really that hard. And as the sun started setting down and they started packing to go back to their camp, Luke was satisfied to see the alpha seeping with frustration. The first stage of his plan was a suces.

But that was only a start of his devious sheme, in the evening he promptly squeezed himself onto the small log in-between Michael and Calum while the other went to take a piss and for the rest of the night he stayed there, keeping them apart.  At Michaels questioning and not so slightly annoyed look, he just shrugged and mouthed “ is there a problem?”. He knew very well that Michel couldn’t actually admit that there was in fact a problem, because it would raise some other questions, which he wasn’t ready to answer.

But the grand finale of his plan was left to the evening. He could imagine, that the two lovebirds would want to have some privacy after all day of being effectively cockblocked and he was very prepared not to give them any. His plan was supported by two conditions, jacks terrible snoring which  could be heard from a mile away and Calums and Michaels tent which was actually made for 3 people, not 2.

Michael couldn’t wait for the everyone calling it a night and escaping to their tents. He barely got to spend any time with Calum throughout the day. The omega was almost always busy with fucking around some other people. First he was on the trip, than he seemed to be engrossed in some apparently very fascinating conversation with Charlie. And there was Luke!  Michael almost started suspecting that the beta was doing it on purpose, one would say that he would want to spend more time  with his own family, when he only saw them few times a year, but the vocalist behaved like Calum was the one who he would have to say goodbye week later to fly back to LA.

He was itching to ask what the fuck he was trying to do  but bit it back because Luke could start asking questions back , and Michael didnt prove to be a good liar today, it was enough that he had admitted it to  Jack, which was honestly the last person he wanted to know, he really didn’t want to be forced to tell Luke too.

Anyway after everyone finally disappeared in their tents, Michael was internally jumping around with joy, already imagining how he would squeeze into Calums sleeping bag  and slip his hand between the others amazing thighs. His imagination ran so wild, that he could almost already feel calums pert ass against his groin and had to bite back a groan at how interested it made him. It didn’t matter that all they could do was some patting, maybe a quick handjob, just the fact that he would be able to at least hold him again was making him ecstatic. After a whiel of letting his thoughts run wild he became so horny, than even a dry hump would do!

So when Michael finally zipped up the tent after himself, and listened to the amazing silence  around the camp, only interrupted by Jacks snoring, he could only think about one thing. As he expected Calum was already wrapped up in his sleeping bag, scrolling down something on his phone. He didn’t seem to pay much attention to the alpha, which Michael was determined to change.

He carefully laid down next to the bassist, not bothering with pulling out his sleeping bag, one would be enough for both of them tonight, they weren’t really cold anyway. He didn’t rush it, he had all night before them and also e wanted to give the others a chance to fall asleep properly so that they wouldn’t overhear anything.

So he could afford to  take his  time to admire the beautiful smile  on Calums face.

“ What are you looking at?” he decided to ask after a while, when Calum didn’t seem to eager to break off from the screen.

“ Nothing, just something Ashton posted.”

Michael frowned, nothing against the drummer, but right now he would like to see another expression on the omegas face than amusement and he would like to be the one to give it there, not Ashton.

“everyone is already asleep.” He suggested while running his fingers over the others sleeping bag.

“ hmmm, are they?” the omega pretended not to catch on, but Michael spotted little  naughty sparkles dancing in his eyes.

“ yup. And … Jack is making his own private concert again. So I was thinking…” the alpha didn’t finish the sentence. Instead he reached for the zipper and with one swift movement he  unzipped the others sleeping bag.

Calum finally seemed to pay attention to his advances and with a chuckle  moved slightly aside to make some space for the alpha.

Michael snuggled his face into the crook of the omegas neck and took a deep breath. Fucking, finally! He stayed like this for a moment, deliberately not proceeding any further,  after awhile  Calum started to grow impatient and started running his hand up and down the others back, sticking his nails out now and than.

“ ouch! Watch out, tiger, you don’t want to leave marks.”

Calum raised his eyebrows suggestingly.

“ or do you… you naughty, naughty…”

Calum stuck his tongue out at the alpha and clawed at his back again, this time with way more force.

“ argh. Fuck you.” Michael wouldn’t admit it, but he had a slight pain kink. All the teasing was making him pretty hard already. He reached down to quickly adjust himself  in his shorts when suddenly he felt another hand down grabbing at his  own.

“ It didn’t take very long, did it?” Calum purred into his ear and went to  stroke over the fabric of his shorts before swiftly pushing Michaels hand away and sticking his own hand inside.

Michael shuddered at his touch. “ Fuck. I ve been waiting for this all day”

“yeah?” calum kept moving his hand teasingly over his shaft, while Michael wrapped his arms around the omega, pushed him closer into himself . He sneaked his right hand into the omegas slightly stiff hair ( as he had let it dry naturally after bathing in the quarry water),  and was brushing through it softly, making the omega purr again. He couldn’t resist and  pressed his face into the omegas neck again, licking at the soft skin there.   There was  pleasure steadily building in his lower abdomen and judging from calums sped up breathing, he wasn’t the only one. The pleasure  was slowly making him pant but calums deliberetaly light strokes weren’t enough. he involuntarily moved his groin forward to get some more pressure form calusm hand, but the omega only giggled and let go of him completely.

“ you little..” Mihcael bit into his shoulder with a force and calum let out a not so silent yelp, quickly pressing his lips together to keep any more loud noises inside.

“ shush. You don’t want them to here us, do you…” Michael chirped right into his ear.

Calum shivered and clutched the alphas armes. Even though he pretended no to, he was getting more and more affected by their little play, and  he didn’t have it in himself to tease the alpha anymore, he tilted his head slightly aide and went to press his mouth into the others lips. Michal moved away slightly and chuckled at the others confused expression. Lets have him have a taste of his own medicine, he couldn’t resist those pouting lips for long though, and  he sneaked a hand to the back of calums neck and pulled him closer  pressing their mouths together . They both tasted like beer and peppermint  tooth paste, but didn’t care.

They were still lying on their side, and he let his left hand run down Calums side until he reached the hem of his underwear, he slipped his hand inside, squeezing the omegas backside playfully.  Calum mumble dsomething in protest but quickly shut up when  Michael  let his fingers travel down between his ass cheeks, where he was thrilled to find some wetness forming.

Calum moved away from  the kiss and let a choked up  moan.

“ mike…’” he shuddered and pressed his groin into Michaels thigh. The alpha was actually surprised how hard he already was.

“ Cal… baby! Fuck, I would take you right now, if I could.” He whispered brokenly.

“ we cant…”

“ fuck, I know….”

“ just… arghg…. touch me , ok? “ the omega kept rubbing onto him, and by the heavy breathing he could imagine he wont last very long anyway.

Ziiip!

Suddenly Michael heard a load zipping sound and a few seconds and one proper shock later, Lukes head appeared in the opening.

“Hey, are you up?”

Michael quickly jerked away from Calum, the omega immediately covering himself with his sleeping bag again.

“Y-yeah!” he stammered out, staring at the silhouette of Lukes head still not quite believing it was really happening. then he realized that there was a noticeable tent on his pants, luckily not that visible in the darkness in the tent, and  started looking for  his own sleeping bag. Thanks god Luke didn’t barge in a few minutes later. But wait! Why did he have to barge in at all??? What in heavens was he doing here?

“ am I interrupting something?” he asked them in a suspiciously innocent voice.

“ n-no!” Calum seemed to compose himself after he managed to cover himself up to his chin

“ great, I am sleeping with you tonight!” the beta curtly announced. And what???

Michael felt like maybe he had heard wrong. Did Luke say what he thought he did?

“ you are sleeping with us?” Calum obviously had the same problem.

“ yup! I cant stand it anymore, its even worse than yesterday. I really feel sorry for Celeste, and I wondered why they still haven’t moved in together. She probably just values her beauty sleep.” What? Michael had a hard time understanding what Luke was suggesting.

“ you cant sleep here” Michael blurted out after  finally finding his sleeping bag and pulling it over himself. Not that it would be necessary anymore, his boner was dead.

“ why not? Your tent  made for three!”

“ well, its truth.” Calum admitted reluctantly giving Michael a helpless look.

“ well, but for 3 average people. You are too overgrown to fit in here with us.” Michael whined.

“ common if we can fit in the bunks on the tour bus, we can fit in here two.” The beta had already started moving inside , dragging his own sleeping bag with himself.”

Michael started to have a suspicion that they  wont be able to get rid of him anymore.

Before he could think of any more arguments Luke plonked himself down in the space between them, which was created when they jumped away form each other.  He made himself comfortable there as a result pushing them even further apart to the sides of the tent. Michal found himself squished inbetween his backpack and Lueks massive shouldesr, and it finally dawned on him that it was over. He wont be able to touch or be touched by the omega today. He refused to give up though.

“ you are not serious, are you?  Get the fuck up and go back  to your own tent.”

Loud snoring sounded form the Jacks tent.

“ not a chance. I am not coming back there.” Luek stated in a determined voice, and if Michael  didn’t know better, he would say that he almost sounded happy.  

“ mikey?”

“yeah?” Michael really hoped that calum had some plan, he had to have a plan.

“ maybe we should let him sleep here.”  Calums said softly and Michael felt like dying. He opened his mouth  to protest , but  before he could move his vocal chords Luke pulled the rug from under  him.

“ you can go sleep with Jack, if you think its too crowded in here.” He stated nonchalantly and yawned. “ good night , boys, and thank you for letting me stay here.”

Calum giggled.  “ youre welcome.” And what?  how could he giggle in this situation??

“ common, its  just one night. Think about tomorrow.” The omega treid to soothe him, and Michael felt like he just did the ice bucket challenge.

Half an out later, both Luke  and Calum were apparently asleep, but   Michael couldn’t drop off. He  felt massively betrayed,  and Lukes shoulder blade was digging him into his arm.  Despite his boner being long gone, he still felt a pang of painful need whenever he remembered how calum passionately  rubbed against him just moments before they were so cruelly interrupted.

Luke next to him mumbled something in his sleep and turned on back again. Suddenly Michael found his face being full of blonde curls. Idiot, he thought, seriously was he doing it on purpose.

He tried to think about how this time tomorrow he will wake up in a real bed and if the some higher power doesn’t strike him this time, it will be calums bed and and the omega will be in his arms, and they will be alone ….with three more beautiful days before them of nothing to do , except each other. With these thoughts he was finally able to fall asleep!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I wont be able to upadate for a while, so dont panic, I will be back!   
> Love you   
> LM


	33. Outside III.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things will heat up a little bit!!!

Michael woke up to a warm body pressed to his side and persistent numbness in his right arm. The first thing that came to his mind was that  Calum must have crawled closer in his sleep and cuddled up to him.  The thought of it almost immediately sent a warm feeling over him, he was never one to say _no_ to a good cuddle and having  the omega curled up to him felt  like heaven.  Even though he knew he should probably get up and find out what the others were up to, he refused to open up his eyes just yet, he just wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer.

Suddenly he could feel a piece of hair up in his face, the smell of it nice but strangely unfamiliar. He didn’t give it a second thought until  it started tickling his nose and after fighting the itch for a second he involuntarily gave a loud sneeze.

The boy beside him wriggled in his sleep and mumbled an incoherent “ Mikey…”  

Michael froze. _What the hell_?  It definitely wasn’t Calums voice. Suddenly the happenings of the previous night came back to him.  He blinked a few times only to see a mess of blonde curls falling into his eyes.

“Oh fuck… it wasn’t  a dream after all! ” he cursed under his breath and rubbed his forehead. “ Luke fucking Hemmings, I m gonna kill you!” How could he have forgotten what happened last night! The alpha looked down at their vocalist again, the beta was still contentedly drooling on his shoulder, as he lied there blissfully oblivious to the rest of the world and was gently smiling in his sleep, as if he didn’t creep in their tent last night and didn’t cause Michael a serious case of blue balls.

Michael sighed and  tried to push him off off his tingling arm but the only reaction he got was some incoherent mumbling and the beta hugging him even tighter. Luke was clearly trying to get the title of the most annoying person of the year.

So much for a nice uncomplicated morning cuddle with Calum, Michael thought.

Speaking of the omega, he was nowhere to be seen, he must have woken up earlier and had already left the tent. It actually made sense, because judging by the amount of sunlight seeping through the tarp, it was at least 10 o clock.

 “Wake up, Hemming!” Michael shook the beta. To no avail, because Luke just snuggled closer to his side, clearly not  aware of whom he was cuddling up to.

“Hmm, ten more minutes.” he mumbled drowsily, pushing his face further into Michaels arm.

The guitarist rolled his eyes. This is so not how he imagined his perfect morning, but for some crazy second it occurred to him that  the beta looked actually kinda cute as he was  sleepily holding onto him,  half asleep half awake, trying to cover his eyes by pressing them into his shoulder.

Michael mentally slapped himself, cuteness aside  it didn’t change the fact, that he also totally ruined his night with Calum and he remembered very clearly wanting to throw him off the cliff last night.

“ Hey , get the fuck off!” he pushed him with more strength, hoping to finally make him roll back to the other side of the tent.

“ what…” Luke rubbed at  his eyes in confusion, looking like a new-born puppy! Cute, little fluffy.. Michael shook his head, he must have bumped it or something last night, if he had these thoughts !  Again he had to remind himself that he was in fact mad at the beta! 

In the meantime Luke seemed to be doing his best to fall asleep again. “ wake the fuck up!” Michael told him grumpily and nudged him again.

Luke blinked into the sunlight before  he fixed  his eyes on the alpha next to him, and a second later he gave a massive jerk and jumped away from the other, as if he had leper.

The alpha smirked. Served him right, he thought. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that the beta was embarrassed by the situation he himself created.

“Good morning!” Luke mumbled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head and looking anywhere else but at Michael.

“ would be, if you weren’t here.” Michael  shot back at him but failed to put a real heat into his voice. How was he supposed to stay mad at the jerk, when he was behaving like this.

“ what?” luke said in  an surprised and borderline offended  voice.

Michal sighed, there was clearly no point in trying to tell him off now. Nevermind, he will deal with him later. He had to find out Calum first anyway,  he only hoped he didn’t go for another hike, while he was asleep. The plan was to  pack up and leave today, but one never knew what could come up in Ben Hemmings head.

It turned out Calum didn’t leave the camp and neither did anyone else, everybody but him and Luke gathered at the logs enjoying a breakfast made off left overs they didn’t want to carry back to the car. Suddenly a loud rumble in his stomach reminded Michael, that he hadn’t eaten much last evening, mostly because he was pissed at Luke and lost his appetite.

When he approached the others, he  found out there was enough food left for him and Luke. ( in the opposite case he would eat it all and wouldn’t leave Luke any)

“ Morning.” he greeted  them, but everybody gave him a weird look. Michael immediately grew suspicious, he really didn’t like the badly hold back amusement that his presence seemed to cause. What the hell!

“ what?” he looked over them, trying to figure out what was so funny! Did they draw something on his face? Not, that the morning could get any worse…but he would really like to at least know if he had a dick on his forehead.

 

Everyone  kept silent, in the end he fixed his eyes questioningly on the one that he trusted  the most among those snakes - his boyfriend .  Calum looked like was trying really hard to maintain a serious face. “ Im sorry , I couldn’t stop him.” he  mumbled out, but the twitching in his face was telling him, that he in fact didn’t feel sorry at all. Michael rubbed at his face, checking his fingertips for ink. They were clean.

“ Guys, what the hell?”

Charlie finally lost the battle and burst out laughing. Ben joined him with his silent chuckling, which by the way sounded really creepy.  

Finally Michael spotted a phone in calums hands. He quickly grabbed at it, bracing himself mentally.

On the screen there was a very nice picture of him and Luke cuddling… in their tent. Oh , no…. just when he thought the morning couldn’t get worse. Who the hell took this? If it wasn’t calum…

“ sorry, I couldn’t resist, you were so cuuute.” Jack let out a good-natured laugh and Michael had to hold himself to not to smack the smile right off his face. It was his fault that Luke had to sleep in their tent last night after all. If he had his nasal septum fixed, Luke wouldn’t have to emigrate to their tent and he wouldn’t have to wake with blue balls and a pool of his drool on his arm. But he was too tired and hungry to start a fight.

“Hhha, very funny. “ he said in the end, throwing the phone at its owner, making sure it wasn’t easy to catch.

“ hey, be careful. Its brand new.” Jack complained.

Michael just gave him the finger, and everyone started laughing. Even Michael could feel his mouth twitch. And than it occurred to him…How would Luke react when he sees the picture. A chuckle escaped his mouth.

“ hey, send me the picture.” He asked Jack with a smirk.

The middle Hemmings looked at him in surprise. Clearly he anticipated something more like “ Hey, delete it!”

An evil grin appeared on Michaels face, the morning didn’t seem so bad anymore.

24 hours later:

Calum was sitting on the edge of his bed, with his phone in his hand, waiting for the information he just found out to sink in. To tell the truth he had felt a bit under weather yesterday, but he had written it off to spending too much time under the scorching sun.  It definitely didn’t occur to him that he might be going into heat, he was still taking the suppressants after all and they had never disappointed him in two years!

But they did this time! His doctor had just called him to inform him, that there was a mistake in the distribution of this serial number! No, they weren’t poisonous or something, they wouldn’t cause him any harm, but they could also malfunction, because they were wrongly marked as stronger than they actually were, they just put the less effective pills into packaging for the ones with more substance active.  So he was unknowingly taking a half dose for the last month! At first it didn’t mean much, because there was still enough chemicals running in his blood, but eventually the levels of it became too low.

Calum sighed, looks like he will have his heat sooner than he had planned. He had planned to have one once they returned to LA anyway, so It wouldn’t be a big deal! Actually, it seemed pretty ideal. He had already ushered his parents out of the house, so he could comfortably ride his heat out, but the problem was, that he had already invited Michael over!

Fuck. He couldn’t even blame the doctor, because he had been trying to reach him for last 3 days, but there was  poor signal in the mountains and he honestly hadn’t been checking his phone much. So, if there was someone to blame it was him, and the pharmaceutical company of course, but like… why hadn’t he checked the phone, he could have doubled the dosage of the sups, maybe it would help! Also, if he was letting his body have his heats regularly as he should have, it probably wouldn’t be so eager to jump into heat on the first chance either, so it was really just his fault!

You could ask why there was a problem with him going into heat when there was his boyfriend on the way. It could be considered as pretty convenient accident, couldn’t it? Well, no, for Calum it wasn’t. He still had a problem with Michael helping him with his heats, they hadn’t spent a proper heat together ever since his infamous first one, and to tell the truth Calum was quite content to leave it like this. He had let him help once, when he was in the mild heat in LA before leaving to Asia, but it was barely even a heat. By the way  he was feeling now, he could tell that the excessive exercise he got over the last few days combined with the alcohol he consumed  and well the fact that he might have forgotten to even take the sups the day before yesterday, well all that combined… he just somehow knew that this heat would be way worse, and he was for some reason really scared to find himself that vulnerable alone with his boyfriend.

It sounded weird even to his own ears. He felt like he shouldn’t feel like this, and to be honest he didn’t really know why he did, but the idea of spending his heat with Michael was something he really didn’t feel comfortable with yet. He wanted to spend his heat with Michael, he really did… but later when he felt more ….. prepared maybe.

Michael thought that it had something to do with his first heat, that Calum didn’t trust him after he lost control like that that one time in London . But Calum knew it was a nonsense, they had both changed so much since then and he definitely didn’t hold it against Michael anymore, well he never really did.   But   he cowardly let Michael half believe that there might be some connection!  He had told him there wasnt but he also refused to offer any better explanation. Because… because it simply was so complicated even in his own head, that he really didn’t know how to explain it. And he really hated complicated things, he sucked at dealing  with them. And maybe that was actually why, he didn’t want to spend a heat with Michael, he didn’t want to make things more complicated.  He was _afraid_ to make things more complicated.

No matter how selfish it seemed, and how he himself felt like piece of shit  because of it, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it! It just didn’t seem right! It was like taking a step in their relationship he wasn’t ready to take.

Now as he was sitting here he briefly contemplated whether he shouldn’t do it after all. It was the easiest option.  Michael was probably on his way already and Calum had to figure out what to do preferably until the alpha got here, because he was pretty sure that no amount of lying would make the alpha convinced he was just sick after he looked at him now, let alone take a sniff of him.

He wasn’t so far unable to make rational decisions, and Michael wouldn’t force him, he was sure of that,  but he knew, it wouldn’t get easier once the alpha actually stood right in front of him, pleading with him to let him help. So he should better call him before he actually got here!

Ding!

Fuck! It wasn’t the doorbell, was it?

Ding! Ding!

He was too soon, he wasn’t supposed be here for another hour! Calum groaned, what will he do, he thought he had at least some time left to figure out what to do! Now it was too late to make up some lies.  Looks like he will have to admit the truth!

He stood up and the pain in his lower back made him wince. He swallowed a whine and shuffled down the stairs. Fucking heat, it was coming on too quickly!

The omega unlocked the door, gradually reconciling with the idea of having to face Michael while coming into heat, it wont be a pleasant conversation but he had no other choice. But when he opened the door, his jaw dropped, fuck, he was so stuck with trying to figure out  what to do with Michael, that he didn’t  even check who was on the other side of the door. It wasn’t Michael! It was his other alpha bandmate actually!

“Ashton?” he stumbled out in disbelief.

“ Hi!” the alpha grinned at him, waving a bag full of food from their favourite china place before his face. Oh, no! Calum felt like his own lies finally caught up with him. Whatever anyone says, karma exists! He had told everybody that he was feeling sick after the trip, so that they left him… and Michael alone for the next few days…  it obviously just backfired!

“ well…. Well, what are you doing here? ⁎fake cough⁎  I told you not to come, you guys better not catch whatever I have. We need to be fit the next week in LA!”  _Why was he here, he had told them, he was contagious_!

Ashton rolled his eyes and  without invitation squeezed past him into the house _! Great, just great!_

“ whatever. I’ve heard your folks are out of town for a weekend, and you shouldn’t be here alone. Anyway, whatever you have I won’t probably catch it, I am hardly ever sick, you know. Alpha genes!” Calum rolled his eyes. _Idiot! Also, if he ever found out the tool who gave away, that his parents were out of town, he will castrate him!_

Calum ran a palm over his face. It was getting hotter inside, or rather he was getting hotter, It definitely wasn’t good! He is so stupid, he should have known that Ashotn would come in for a rescue if he thought he might be sick and alone! It was a good  plan but it had some holes and now it  crashed like a house of cards! His phone beeped.

<Will be late. Have to get something for mum. Sorry. Don’t start without me, babe. Will be there around 11.>

Calum let out a breath

Great, so at least he had some more time before Michael was coming. He had to get rid of Ashton before then, and he had to think of something to tell him. To tell both of them. Even though, he could maybe just tell Ashton the truth! He would soon realize it by the smell anyway!

Suddenly he felt a first big gush of slick dampen his pants. Great, he was officially in heat! Just fucking perfect!

He closed the door and followed Ashton to the kitchen, he sat down on the chair as far  from  the alpha as possible. Ashton still didn’t suspect a thing, he was currently unpacking the food he brought him while telling calum what he brought!

When he finally turned around and looked at the omega, his smile fell a little bit!

“ You  actually don’t look that well, maybe you should go back to bed.” He said softly, and his voice did weird things to Calum. He felt another gush of slick escaping just as he wanted to stand up and walk away the room, and he quickly sat down again, silently hoping that ashton had a stuffed nose or something.

The last thing he needed was for Ashton to find out he was in heat, not that he would want to to do something about that, he would probably just ushered him to bed and maybe send Luke over, which would still suck, because the beta was still mad at them for the photo MIchael posted on twitter, which wasn’t like him at all by the way. But anyway…

“Cal?” the omega jumped up, he hadn’t realized Ashton  had come so close to him,before Calum could even react, the alpha pressed his palm against his forehead.  He had been working out a lot lately, it had really started to show, Calum thought , especially his trips  looked pretty.…. oh whoah, what the  Fuck was he thinking about! He quickly looked away! The fucking heat was already kicking his ass, unbelievable, he almost forgot what it was like!

 Calum bit his lower lip,  he should get Ashton out of the house. He clearly got out of practice, when it came to self control. And he still had to call Michael….and figure out what to tell him!

Calum heard a loud sniffing.

 “ You are in heat!” ashton said in disbelief!

TBC

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Are you looking forward to the next one?   
> I hope so! Because, I have sooo many ideas!   
> As usual comments are highly appreciated!   
> Love you   
> LM


	34. Sydney 2017 II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, you will have to read it :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for not updating earlier but I hope this chapter will makes up for it!

„Jesus, Calum!” Ashton let go of him instantly and rubbed his hand over his face to block the scent that was coming of the omega.

“Sorry.” Calum promptly apologized, not sure what for exactly.

“You could have told me, that you were going into heat, you know! You didn’t have to make up a story about being sick. I knew it sounded kinda fishy, you hardly ever admit that you are coming down with something, let alone being sick .” Ashton chuckled at the bassist, but didn’t move his hand away form his nose.

Calum gulped. So Ashton thought that it was all about his heat from the start. It actually wasn’t that bad, not great but…. well at least he didn’t have to think about another lie to get the alpha out of the house before Michael got here. Speaking of the guitarist, he still haven’t called him to say there had been a big change of plans, and he should better not go anywhere near the house.

He had to look really troubled, because next moment Ashton came up to him and gave him a reassuring look.

“ Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry. You won’t be here alone,  I ll call Luke, he will look after you.” The drummer smiled at him soothingly clearly misunderstanding the reason behind Calums anguish completely.

“ Well, I don’t think-“

“Or should I call your  parents, I am sure they would gladly postpone the trip-” Ashton suggested carefully upon seeing calums obvious reluctance to have the beta take care of him.  

“ NO!!!…” Anything but that. “Listen…” Calum rubbed the back of his neck, cringing at the thick layer of sweat sticking to his fingers. “I think I can make it on my own. This heat- . It doesn’t seem… like a bad one.” Dammit!   Did he have to  stutter like a pre-schooler? He really couldn’t have sounded less confident. One look at Ashtons face showed him the drummer wasn’t convinced either.

“ Ehmm, doesn’t want to be rude, but  it doesn’t really look like a mild one to me.” Ashton suggested in an annoyingly polite voice. “ Or smell like one.” He added sheepishly after a moment of hesitation.

Calum flinched.  Fuck! He was probably right. But things were really weird with Luke ever since Mike posted that damned photo! What possessed him to do it he didn’t know, things were awkward enough without adding fuel to the fire. Ok, maybe it wasn’t just Michaels fault, he should have stopped Jack from taking it in the first place. But he had no idea it would end up on a fucking twitter!

Suddenly he could feel a hand pressing down on his shoulder, which effectively stole all his thoughts about Luke and Michael from him. He noticed a few things without really trying to, first Ashtons hand was kinda sweaty a really _really_ warm,  and second it could easily cover a big part of his shoulder, because of course  the drummer had enormous hands, like really big and strong and..fuck! Calum bit his lower lip, he really shouldn’t have these thoughts right now, it was bad enough that he was sweating like crazy, his pheromones must have been all over the place, no wonder ashton was trying to cover his nose.

It must have affected him at least  a little anyway because  his typical natural woody scent got more poignant and distinct throughout their awkward conversation and was now laying heavily in the air around them. The band sometimes made fun of him for smelling like sawdust or bonfire, mostly for the fun of making the oldest alpha lose his usual calm, because he was always kinda butthurt whenever someone mentioned he smelled funny, which he kinda did.  But right now Calum had to admit that the scent oozing of him felt anything like but funny, it smelt well more than nice actually, like a warm spring night in the bush and yeas  like a burning bonfire, but in a good way,  like a young forest after rain, like…

Calum shook his head, running his own hand over his face much like the alpha did before.

“ I m fine. “ he mumbled weakly. At this point he was convinced that the alpha wouldnt believe him, but if he admitted he wasn’t fine, well, that would make him 100 times more worried and protective and that wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed him out of the house like yesterday.

“ yeah, of course you are. “ the alpha said in a calm and almost cheerful voice,  but the next thing the omega noticed when his head cleared a little bit, was that Ashton was talking to someone on the phone. Fuck, it sounded like Lukes voice on the other end.

The alpha hanged up and smiled at the frowning kiwi. “ Luke will be here in 30 minutes, I will wait here with you until he arrives, all right? We can have some of the china while waiting. You should have some proper meal before the heat starts up for real.

Calum groaned, it already felt like he was in heat for real and he didn’t feel like eating at all.  Ashotn  shot him another bright reassuring smile, this time a bit more worried though. The omega didn’t miss that he had shuffled back to the kitchen counter again, where he was awkwardly fumbling with the food packaging.

“Maybe I should …” calum pointed to the ceiling. He should really hole up in his room and call Michael. He should have done it as soon as Ashton came in. Also he would really like to  change into another pants, because these one were becoming kinda  soaked, which was not only gross and uncomfortable but also not helping to keep his pheromones at bay. No matter how hard he tried not to react to the others alphaish smell, his body had the upper hand in this, he was in heat and there was an suitable alpha within the arms reach and his body didn’t give a shit that it was his best friend. He went into preheat this morning, but he was already feeling like the real heat would start any moment, it wasn’t good!

It was never a good sign, when the preheat was unnaturally short, and his heat came on really quick, it was tell tail sign that it will be a bad one. Calum gave a deep sigh, he should really get up and move to his bedroom, even though some part of his brain was telling him to stay here in the comforting presence of the alpha – well, that was exactly the reason why he should move his ass upstairs as soon as possible!

He forced himself to rise from the chair, only to feel his legs buckle! Dammit!

He grabbed the table to regain stability but before he could mumble he was all right, Ashton was already near him, grabbing at his arm to help him stand, looking almost as surprised by his own reaction as the omega. Calum would probably find it really  funny any other time, but right now, he sort of started to panic!

His heat was playing tricks on him, Suddenly he had this immense urge to just let go of his reason  and press himself into the others chest,  which was honestly a terrible idea, because even though  there was never anything more than brotherly feelings between him and ashton, he was an alpha after all, and it could make things pretty awkward if he started snuggling up to him right now.  But, man, he wanted to!

“Cal?”

“ yeah?” Calum cringed at the sound of his own voice. Why did he sounded so whiny?

“Ehmm… are you OK?” if calums voice seemed strange to calums ears, Ashton was sounding completely off, he sounded so unsure of himself which was so out of character for him, that it really caught Calum of guard.  

“I mean, of course you are not, let’s just… ehmmm, do you want me to take you upstairs, I mean help you to get there? “  the alpha adamantly refused to look him in the eye.

“ well… if you don’t mind.” Calum muttered  but didn’t actually make a move to start going. Instead he kept staring flatly at the spot were Ashton fingers were still holding his skin. As if reading his mind, the alpha let go of him quickly, and Calum staggered.

Suddenly Ashton fixed his eyes on him, and there was something in the way the alpha was staring at him, something Calum had never seen there before, something tentative and at the same time almost dangerous. He could see the alpha clench his fists and take a deep shuddering breath. Calum shivered, it seemed to him suddenly that that he was completely surrounded by Ashtons musky scent, that he was literary bathing in it, it made him lose his focus really quickly, like the rest of the world was pushed away from him and there was just him and Ashton and this fucking heat, that just obviously  started for real  if  the pang of sharp pain  that  ran through him and made his knees buckle was something to go by.

Before he could sink to the ground though he  felt two big hands grabbing at his waist and holding him in place.

“Careful!” Ashtons voice didn’t sound cheerful  and confident anymore, it didn’t sound hesitant either. It sounded like… like the drummer was breathless and kinda angry.  The drummer hardened his fingers on his waist, and calum couldn’t muffle a small desperate sound that escaped his lips.

How did it escalate so quickly, he thought. He should think about Luke, who was on his way here, he should think about Michael… his fucking boyfriend!

“calum…” ashton said with sudden urgency.

Calum stopped thinking, he moved forward and tried to press himself into the alpha, and when the drummer tried to hold him in place he wrapped his arms around the others neck and let out a low whine.

Ashton grunted! “ Cal, stop!”

“ No, want you to touch me…” calum breathed out without thinking. His brain was completely clouded.

The alpha let out an almost animalistic groan and the next moment calum was roughly pushed back. Ashtons hands were gone too. The omega tried to move closer to the alpha again, only to be pushed back again.

“ no!”

“ w-why?” he heard himself saying in a voice that was now even more foreign to his own ears. His belly was hurting with need, there was slick running down his thigs, and there was ashton , who could make the pain stop…it seemed so easy, why didn’t he understand?

“ fuck, its way worse than I thought.” the alpha all but whined from behind the hand, that was once again pressed to his face. He was sweating profoundly and slowly and kinda reluctantly was inching away from the omega.

Calum desperately tried to follow him and clutched at his t shirt. “ No… stay. Stay with me.” Ashtons shook his head in a desperate gesture.  He grabbed at the omegas wrists and roughly pushed him away for the third time. Calum stumbled and fell back on the chair, not very dignified whine escaping his lips.

“ you don’t know what you are saying.” The alpha gritted through his teeth. This time he sounded almost angry.

Calum tried to stand up. “ But, I –“

“ NO! SIT!” Calum felt his knees bend again against his will and with a plop fell down onto the wooden chair. Did ashton just use his alpha voice on him? He had never done that before! Not once!

He could feel his cheeks fill with blood, sudden feel of shame washing over him which kinda helped him to clear his head a little bit. Fuck, what was he thinking? Ashton is like his brother and he’s got a boyfriend, who also happens one of Ashtons best friends! He suddenly felt completely humiliated and  couldn’t bring himself to look Ashton in the eye again. The heat was still there, burning in his belly and making his legs tremble, but he could think almsot clearly again.

Suddenly he could hear Ashtons voice further form the direction of the door. It made him look up in surprise. Ashtons was shuffling around awkwardly at the door.

“ I ve got to go! Luke will be hear in 10, just…. Just stay still and wait for him, okay? “

“ I-“

“ calum , please! He will be here soon, I promise.” The alpha pleaded with him. “ I ve gotta go. “ he repeated, I ll leave the key under the pot, so he could get in and you didn’t have to get up. Ok?”

“ ashton, wait…” but the alpha was already out of the door, he didn’t even wait to listen to his clumsy apology. Maybe it was better like this, but calum felt he would start crying if Ashton left for real.

The front door closed with a definite click. A shuddering breath escaped Calums mouth, against his better judgement  he felt his eyes sting, what the fuck was wrong with him? Why was he being like this? He angrily rubbed at his eyes, and tried to stand up but his legs didn’t listen to him. He waited until he heard Ashtons car leaving the driveway, than he finally managed to get up  and drag himself into his bedroom, he didn’t even bother with undressing, just collapsed on his bed and sank his head into the pillow. Ten minutes later he could hear another car stopping in front of the house, he knew it was Luke, by the way the engine roared, the beta never learn to use on the brakes properly.  Than the door opened  and he heard rushed steps on the stairs. Yeah, it was definitely Luke, calum felt relived!

“ Cal?“ than the door of his bedroom opened and Luke stuck his head inside.

“ calum? You in here?”

“ Hnn.”

“ jeez, you scared me! I haven’t heard Ashton so alarmed in a while. What the fuck happened?”

Calum squeezed his eyes shut, he didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t want to think about it. “ Just went into heat, the suppressants malfunctioned.”

Luke hummed in understanding. “ Didn’t know it could happen.”

“ I .. explain later, feel terrible.” Calum mumbled into his pillow.

He could feel the mattress dip a little bit.

“Is it that bad?” Luke sounded genuinely concerned, it made Calum feel a bit guilty. They werent really honest to his friend lately.

“ Feeling like shit .” he whined because he just didn’t have enough energy to come up with something more profound. He didn’t know if it was the heat or the shame of what happened ..or  what he let happen earlier that made his so exhausted, but he felt he would die if he would move. If it was the heat, it was by far the worst one he ever had, the first one included.

“ just a regular heat than.” Luek chuckled and rubbed his shoulder.

Calum couldnt help but snorted at that. Oh, he wished.

“ yeah, lucky me.”

“wanna take a shower or something?  not trying to be rude but even I can tell you fucking stink.”

“ ehrrmmm.”

“ is that yes? “

“ yesss.”

“ good, lets get you up. Common, you lazybones! You will feel better once you get under the water.”

It took a while until Calum managed to move the few meters to the bathroom, but he  did feel better, at the very least he could think like a normal person now.  Even though he still felt properly embarrassed by the whole situation, cause he wasn’t used to being so useless during his heats anymore. The suppressant heats were really just a walk in a park compared to this, he could still take care of himself just well, and he could plan them before, so he could get everybody out of the way. And this heat, it was really something else.

Michael was tapping his fingers impatiently on the stirring wheel. From the very morning it seemed like some higher power was trying to keep him from  reaching Calums house. At first his parents put off they departure because mr. Hood couldn’t find his fishing equipment, than his mom needed to get something and than he hit this fucking traffic jam, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

But today no higher power will stand between him and his omega, he was determined to get to Calums house, even if he had to walk there…aargh! when he finally wraps his arms around the omega it wont matter if he spent a whole morning in this fucking car, rolling forward inch by inch, just to move to another jammed crossroad.

There will be nothing holding him from – his phone beeped. Hah, it must be Calum! He quickly grabbed his phone, the omega must  be wondering why he is taking so long.

But it was Ashtons name shining on the screen, Michael furrowed his eyebrows, he started to have a bad feeling about it. Some idiot behind him honked at him to move  forward, as if he could mover more than 10 centimeters. Ok, what did Ashton want again, probably nothing important…

-Calum isn’t sick, he went into heat. I send Luke over, he is all right. Just stay out of his house!-

Michael blinked. And what? What the hell did that mean? Of course Calum wasn’t sick, it was just an alibi  they made up , but wait… how did Ashton even know Calum was in heat? And was he even in heat, or was it another excuse calum though of to keep Ashton out of the house. God, dammit! Another honk sounded from behind, and Michael just wanted to kill the damned bastard!

Instead he took a deep breath and  wrote a quick  -OK.-  as a reply and than stepped on gear, he had no way to find out what was actually happening before he could get to Calums house and it didn’t seem like he will be able to get there anytime soon with this fucking traffic.

Michael silently cursed as he recognized Lukes car ( or rather his moms car) on Calums driveway. So he was already here, not what he hoped for!

He didn’t bother with ringing, and stuck the key into the lock, but as soon as opened the front door, he almost  ran into the beta, who must have heard the engine, and rushed to open the door.  
“Oh, hi. You ve got the key?” Luke asked a bit taken aback.

“ yeah.” Michael simply answered knowing that he should probably comeup  with some explanation, but it was the least of his worries right now.

“well, I guess you came to see calum then.” Luke said in a weird voice.

Michael was actually surprised by the fact that Luke wasn’t even questioning his presence here, he was also sure that the beta would try to stop him from coming in, instead he just invited him over, still giving him those weird looks though.

“yeah, well.. I did. Is he upstairs?”  Michael asked impatiently.

“ ok, just give me a second, I will tell him you are here.” He wanted to object, that he could just go with him, but Luke was already gone, so he just sighed and decided to calm down and wait for the beta to come back.

Maybe it was something in Lukes overly polite tone that made him listen. The beta behaved suspiciously unsuspicious.

“Cal? “

“ Hmm.”

“ wake up”!

Calum jerked his eyes open. Oh fuck, did he fall asleep? No, it wasn’t  possible.

“ Michael is here.”

What? NO! It was a bad dream, how could he have fallen asleep without calling him first?

“Calm down! I know the two of you are together!”

“ What?” what the hell was going on? Was he still dreaming?

He could see the beta roll his eyes. Do you want me to let him in?

“ what? NO!”

Luke seemed honestly baffled.

“ Ehmm, you sure? I mean… I know the two of you have been sneaking around, so you don’t have to pretend anymore.” He looked at him a bit accusingly. Calum wished the bed just swallowed him right now. “I wont tell ashton, if thats what you are worried about!” Luke added. It was great, but it wasn’t really the problem.

“ no, I m serious…” Calum wiped the spit of his mouth finally feeling completely woken up. “ we.. we haven’t done that before.”

“ what?” Luke was looking at him  like he grew a second head.

“ No… I mean we did, but not in heat.”

“ You mean….. oh!” Luke seemed to finally get it.

“ well, I don’t think I feel ready … yet. It’s a big deal.. kinda. “

He could almost hear the wheels turning in Lukes head.

“ It’s a big deal for me, you know.”

Luke finally seemed to understand his point. “ I see. “ to Calums relieve he didn’t seem to judge him though, or question his dubious decision to spend his heat alone when having a willing alpha boyfriend downstairs.

If anything he seemed almost happy. If he wasn’t incapacitated with his heat, Calum would probably find it pretty weird, but right now he was glad he was able to focus on what Luke was saying.

“ Ok, what should I tell him though? He his downstairs..” Luke trailed of.

Calum sighed… he should have known, it wont be that easy.

 

“ Look, he told me to tell you that he would rather spend his heat alone.”

Michael was looking at the nervous beta and blood was boiling in him, fuck he didn’t fucking need Lukes permission to see his boyfriend. 

He had tried his best to stay calm, but when he went to the kitchen to take some water he had realized the place fucking reeked of the not so unfamiliar pheromones of the other 5sos alpha, which almost made him throw up. What the hell was going on here?

“ Ok, I will just go to see him. “ he turned to walk pass the wearily looking beta.

“ no, he told me…”

“ I know ! you had repeated it like five times already, and I told you I want to hear it from him!”

He tried to walk away again , but the beta stood in his way.

“ Luke , move the fuck away!”

“ NO!”

Michael had had enough, he grabbed Lukes shirt and pushed him into the closest wall. It was maybe a bit too rough, but after a last few days his patience was wearing thin and needed to know what the hell happened here. They had never had mayn fights in the band, not for real, but of course they had been some playful fighting especially when they were younger. Luke had never been the easiest on to win fight against, but Michael was really angry right now, and Luke looked more embarrassed than determined to keep him away. He look kinda like a deer caught in a headlight, maybe he was just really surprised by his outburst. He pushed past him quickly and aimed to the place he had been very familiar with since child days, Calums bedroom.

He knew that Calum probably didn’t want him to help, he just wanted to talk.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think?   
> The next chapter will be kinda Lukes thoughts . I promise they will be not decent!  
> I also promise that the next chapter will come sooner than this one.   
> Love you LM


End file.
